Spontaneous metal whisker growth phenomenon has been studied for -70 years, but still resists in- terpretations, which has haunted the electronics-rich systems from the birth of the industry since whiskers may lead to...Spontaneous metal whisker growth phenomenon has been studied for -70 years, but still resists in- terpretations, which has haunted the electronics-rich systems from the birth of the industry since whiskers may lead to short circuits and hence other disasters. In addition to reliability problems, threat of Pb whiskers to human health is also significant due to the toxicity of the element and its geometry as well as its nanometer size. This issue becomes more attention drawing and urgent due to the restrictions on Pb use in ELI, Japan etc., which phases out the Pb-addition practice to mitigate Sn whiskers. This paper reviews the origin of the whiskering phenomenon and whisker-induced problems, ranging from early in the World War II to the present; details the development of this issue in the electronics-rich systems including the phenomenon, problems and remedies; pictures the long history of the developments of the growth mechanisms and models which are full of hardship and contradictions. New aspects on the spontaneous whisker growth in some different substrates, such as in brasses and MAX phase materials are reviewed in more details. The latter was found to be a promising system to understand the whisker growth phenomenon, with new growth models proposed that may shed new light to the intricate battle field of the metal whisker research in general.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51272043)Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds(1302008A)+1 种基金China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2014M551484)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(3212004603)
文摘Spontaneous metal whisker growth phenomenon has been studied for -70 years, but still resists in- terpretations, which has haunted the electronics-rich systems from the birth of the industry since whiskers may lead to short circuits and hence other disasters. In addition to reliability problems, threat of Pb whiskers to human health is also significant due to the toxicity of the element and its geometry as well as its nanometer size. This issue becomes more attention drawing and urgent due to the restrictions on Pb use in ELI, Japan etc., which phases out the Pb-addition practice to mitigate Sn whiskers. This paper reviews the origin of the whiskering phenomenon and whisker-induced problems, ranging from early in the World War II to the present; details the development of this issue in the electronics-rich systems including the phenomenon, problems and remedies; pictures the long history of the developments of the growth mechanisms and models which are full of hardship and contradictions. New aspects on the spontaneous whisker growth in some different substrates, such as in brasses and MAX phase materials are reviewed in more details. The latter was found to be a promising system to understand the whisker growth phenomenon, with new growth models proposed that may shed new light to the intricate battle field of the metal whisker research in general.
