Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Whisker nucleation in indentation residual stress field on tin plated component leads

  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tin whisker formation has been a serious concern for application of pure tin as a Pb-free component lead finish. It has been long believed that residual stress is the root cause of whisker formation. A fundamental question is if stress produced by other than the plating processing and post-plating metallurgical reactions can induce whisker formation. In this study, micro indents were made on pure tin plated component leads to introduce a stress field and a scanning electron microscope was used to monitor the nucleation of whiskers in-situ. Nanoindentation was also performed to measure hardness and elastic modulus of the tin coating and substrate. The stress/strain field around the micro-indent was calculated using finite element method. Experimental and theoretical calculation results show that stress gradient plays an important role in whiskers nucleation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. G.T. Galyon, IEEE Trans. Elec. Pack. Manu. 28, 94 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. J. Brusse, G. Ewell, J. Siplon, Tin whiskers: Attributes and mitigation, Capacitor and Resistor Technology Symposium (CARTS 02), held at New Orleans, LA, March 25–29, 2002

  3. G.T. Galyon, L. Palmer, IEEE Trans. Elec. Pack. Manu. 28, 17 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. R.M. Fisher, L.S. Darken, K.G. Carroll, Acta Matall. 2, 368 (1954)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. V.K. Glazunova, Kristallografiya, 7, 761 (1962)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. C.H. Pitt, R.G. Henning, J. Appl. Phys. 35, 459 (1964)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. W.J. Choi, T.Y. Lee, K.N. Tu, N. Tamura, R.S. Celestre, A.A. McDowell, Y.Y. Bong, N. Liu, Acta Mater. 51, 6253 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. G.T. Galyon, L. Palmer, The structure and kinetics of tin-whisker formation and growth on high tin content finishes, Handbook of Lead-Free solder Technology for Microelectron Assemblies, ed. K.J. Puttlitz and K.A. Stalter, (Marcel Dekker Inc. 2004) p. 851

  9. W.C. Oliver, G.M. Pharr, J. Mater. Res. 7, 1564 (1992)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. D. Tabor, The Hardness of Metals, (The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1951)

    Google Scholar 

  11. G. Ghosh, J. Mater. Res. 19, 1439 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. http://hcrosscompany.com/metals/alloy4252.htm

  13. W.D. Zhang, P.C. Chang, R.Y. Chou, R.K. Shiue, Microelec. Reliab. 41, 2011 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. K.N. Tu, J.C.M. Li, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 409, 131 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. A. Gouldstone, H.J. Koh, K.Y. Zeng, A.E. Giannakopoulos, S. Suresh, Acta Mater. 48, 2277 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Z.-H. Xu, J. Agren, Phil. Mag. 84, 2367 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. X. Deng, M. Koopman, N. Chawla, K.K. Chawla, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 364, 240 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. J. Kruger, in: K.H. Buschow, et al. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, 10 (Elsevier, Amsterdam 2001) p. 9352

  19. W.D. Calllister, Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering, (Wiley, New York, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  20. B.Z. Lee, D.N. Lee, Acta Metall. 46, 3701 (1998)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial support for this study was provided by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. EPS-0296165), the University of South Carolina Research Foundation Equipment Grant Award, and the University of South Carolina NanoCenter. The content of this information does not necessary reflect the position or policy of the Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EMC Corp., Hopkinton, MA, 01748, USA

    Jin Liang

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Zhi-Hui Xu & Xiaodong Li

Authors
  1. Jin Liang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhi-Hui Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaodong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaodong Li.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liang, J., Xu, ZH. & Li, X. Whisker nucleation in indentation residual stress field on tin plated component leads. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 18, 599–604 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9153-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9153-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation