Ping Zhao and Michael Pecht
CALCE Electronic Products and Systems Center
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Abstract:
Creep corrosion is a mass-transport process during which solid corrosion products migrate over a surface. For components with noble metal pre-plated leadframes, creep corrosion is a potential reliability risk for long-term field applications. This paper explains the source, process and possible products of creep corrosion on integrated circuit (IC) packages. The operating environment for telecom equipment is introduced as an example demonstrating the corrosive surroundings for electronic components. Field failure due to creep corrosion on plastic encapsulated components with palladium pre-plated leadframes is presented and analyzed. Similar phenomenon has been reproduced in an accelerated manner using mixed flowing gas (MFG) testing at lab.
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