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Würth Elektronik Watts Up Podcast


Feb 3, 2022

A whisker is a crystalline structure of material that appears on tin surfaces. This well-known phenomenon was discovered in the early 1950's, and new legislative actions to avoid lead in electronic components has lead to the return of this whisker problem. These whiskers may reduce the isolation resistance and additional problems arise when the whiskers break and short the printed circuit board or some fine pitch components. In this podcast, we'll discuss some facts about understanding whisker formation and mitigation strategies that Wurth Elektronik is using.  

Download the complete Application Note, WPP001, at www.we-online.com/appnotes or click here. 

Figure 1:

SEM Image of Tin Surface Before Test

 SEM image of tin surface after 1500 h, RH 93 %,