Tin Whisker Project, Phase II

Chair: Richard Parker (Delphi Electronics & Safety)
Co-chairs: Mark Kwoka (Intersil Corp.), Jack McCullen (Intel), John Osenbach (LSI)

This project, organized in 2007, combines teams from, and extends the results of, iNEMI's Tin Whisker Modeling and Tin Whisker Accelerated Test projects.  This latest effort is continuing to develop tests that will accelerate whisker growth, using theories formulated by previous iNEMI projects to explain the formation of tin whiskers. They are also conducting experiments to test those theories.

This project is looking at methods to control tin whiskers, and is developing "flexure beam" as an in-process control "tool." The flexure beam could give early warning of stress build-up in the tin layer, which could lead to better process controls. The group is working to prove this concept.

The team is now working on understanding the stress states in tin films as a function of time and will try to correlate to whisker growth.  The long-term goal is still to simplify or accelerate tin whisker testing methods and correlate to field experiences. The group also has plans for a tin whisker "incident" database for OEMs that would provide anonymous data regarding circumstances under which whiskers have been found.  This information would be made available through the iNEMI website.

Current Investigation of iNEMI’s Tin Whisker Committee, Peng Su (Cisco Systems, Inc.), 2nd International Tin Whisker Symposium, April 25, 2008, Tokyo, Japan.

Previous Tin Whisker Projects

Tin Whisker Accelerated Test
Tin Whisker Modeling
Tin Whisker User Group

Additional tin whisker information