Electrostatically accelerated tin whisker development under x- and gamma-rays

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that gamma-ray and x-ray irradiation can accelerate tin whisker growth through electrostatic effects, suggesting a new non-destructive testing method for assessing tin whisker reliability.

Contribution

The paper shows that ionizing radiation accelerates tin whisker development via electrostatic mechanisms, introducing a potential new testing approach.

Findings

Radiation doses of 20-30 KGy significantly accelerate whisker growth.

Electrostatic effects are confirmed as the cause of acceleration.

Radiation can be used as a non-destructive accelerated testing tool.

Abstract

We observed the accelerated tin whisker development under non-destructive gamma-ray and x-ray irradiation and determined the characteristic range of radiation doses 20-30 KGy, for which that effect becomes significant. We were able to change the radiation induced whisker growth by electrically disconnecting some parts of our experimental setup thus demonstrating the electrostatic nature of the accelerated whisker development. The observed acceleration factors make the ionizing radiation a potential non-destructive and readily implementable accelerated life testing tool.