Tin Whisker Alert

A failure mode is re-emerging that has been responsible for the loss of billions of dollars worth of satellites, missiles and other equipment - electrically conductive 'tin whiskers'. Tin whiskers can develop under typical operating conditions on any product type that uses lead-free pure tin coatings. Driven by the accelerating movement to lead-free products, tin whiskers pose major safety, reliability and potential liability threats to all makers and users of high reliability electronics and associated hardware. Existing approaches are not sufficient to control tin whiskering in high-reliability systems. The risk is here now, and unless decisive action is taken soon to fund development and implementation of a strategic action plan to devise short-term stopgap procedures and medium-term investigation of mitigation alternatives, serious consequences are inevitable.

Tin Whisker Information
Conformal Coating Study (Presentation) CALCE Tin Whisker Team Participants have been examining the effectiveness of conformal coating in containing tin whiskers. This findings of this study is discussed in this report.

Part Suppliers Survey (Updated 3/14/05) (MS Excel Spreadsheet) A survey of current and planned lead and terminal finishes as well as temperature and moisture sensitivity changes from suppliers of electronic parts. The survey represents information collected though review of public postings from part suppliers, as well as direct contact with representatives of the part supplier. The information gathering is an on-going activity. Individuals are encouraged to check with their part suppliers to obtain the latest information. CALCE Member Web Account Required.

Tin Whisker Mitigation Study Draft Report (Report) A draft report detailing experiments conducted to examined the effect of various environmental exposures on the growth of tin whiskers. This study examines "bright-Sn" on brass and alloy 42 substrates and provides limited assessment of the effectiveness of conformal coats on containing whiskers.

Tin Whisker Alert (Whitepaper) A candid discussion of the concern over failures in electronics related to "tin-whiskers" and its potential re-emergence due to the move lead-free solders.

Tin Whisker Risks (Whitepaper) A technical discussion of the "tin-whiskers" phenomenon, current knowledge and remaining questions.

Tin Whisker Experiences (Whitepaper) A collection of experiences where "tin-whiskers" have been observed.

Tin Whisker Mitigation Guide (Whitepaper) A guide for mitigating the risk of tin-whiskers as a failure source in electronic hardware.