Testing for whisker formation
Whiskers are known as the hazardous growth of tin needles on package leads and on solder joints. The risk of this happening is increased when a transition to lead-free soldering takes place. This is due to the high tin content in solders and finishes. Lead-free soldering has become an important trend in the electronics industry because of European regulation and market demands. In order to increase competitiveness, the EFSOT project has advanced the dependability, efficiency and sustainability of lead-free soldering. Incorporating lead-free solutions allows industry to select the materials and procedures which are the most appropriate according to technical requirements, impacts of life cycle period and use of resources. Additionally, EFSOT has sought to better understand whisker development which is necessary for designing a globally accepted method for preventing or reducing their formation. This was achieved through examining the agents for different substrates and lead-free product finishes. Furthermore, a model that can explain the observations was designed.