Michael Osterman and Robert Utter
Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Abstract:
Mixed flowing gas (MFG) testing is used to demonstrate the ability of an electronic product or system to survive in a corrosive environment. MFG testing is designed to corrode copper and silver, which are often used as electrical conductors in electronic products. However, MFG tests have failed to identify issues in recent years. These failures have been predominately related to the corrosion of silver. To understand these test escapes, the corrosion of silver and copper corrosion under MFG is examined. For comparison, a flower of sulfur (FoS) test at 75C was also conducted. The test results show that the rate of copper and silver corrosion is not equivalent but varies based on gas concentration and explains the failure escapes.