Abstract:

- For electronic equipment, tin whisker growth presents a reliability concern due to the potential to create unintended electrical shorts. Under certain conditions, tin whiskers can initiate a metal vapor arc that can have destructive consequences. This study investigates the role of the bias voltage, pressure, and whisker geometries on the metal vapor arc formation and a metric for whisker arc formation is proposed.

Keywords: Tin whisker, metal vapor arc, electrical short

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