Tin Whisker Electrical Short Circuit Characteristics ... - NEPP - Nasa

48 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRONICS PACKAGING MANUFACTURING, VOL. 32, NO. 1, JANUARY 2009
A. Future Work
There are many aspects of the tin whisker phenomena that
provide opportunities for future research. One area that would
expand on the research performed here would be to study the effect
of pressure on breakdown voltage. This would require the
development of a method measuring pressure applied to the tin
whisker either directly or indirectly by measuring whisker deflection,
length and diameter and then calculating the pressure.
Expanding the range of the power beyond the 0–45 Vdc to
determine the upper limit of breakdown voltage would also provide
additional insight. By expanding the upper limit one may
be able to eliminate the censored data points.
Other variables that could affect tin whisker shorting should
also be studied. Some examples of these variables that warrant
future study include whisker shape, whisker length and thickness,
and oxidation layer thickness. Another phenomenon related
to tin whiskers that warrants further quantification is metal
vapor arcing.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Dr. H. Leidecker of NASA
and J. Brusse of Perot Systems at Goddard Space Flight Center
for sharing their vast knowledge on the topic of tin whiskers,
and taking the time to answer the many questions posed
throughout this experiment. The authors would also like to
thank Z. Rahman with the Materials Characterization Facility,
AMPAC, University of Central Florida (UCF), for his expertise
in FIB and TEM analysis, M. Spates, P. Marciniak, S. Loucks,
J. Neihoff, P. Richiuso, and R. King of NASA Kennedy Space
Center for their help with the fabrication/modification of the test
equipment, L. Batterson of NASA Kennedy Space Center for
his expertise in photography, A. Oliu of NASA Johnson Space
Center for his expertise with digital imaging, Dr. L. Keller of
NASA Johnson Space Center and Dr. J. Lomness of NASA
Kennedy Space Center for reviewing the diffraction patterns,
Dr. S. Smith of NASA and Dr. R. N. Shenoy of Lockheed
Martin at NASA Langley Research Center for indexing the
diffraction patterns, and M. Madden of United Space Alliance
for his expertise with breakdown voltage selection software.
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Karim J. Courey received the B.E.E. degree from Cleveland State University,
Cleveland, OH, in 1986, the M.B.A. degree from the Florida Institute of Technology,
Melbourne, FL, in 1993, and the Ph.D. degree in industrial engineering
from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, in 2008.
He is currently a Principal Engineer with the Orbiter Sustaining Engineering
Office for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lyndon B.
Johnson Space Center, Texas. His duty location is at the John F. Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.
Dr. Courey is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.
Shihab S. Asfour received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in production engineering
from Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, in 1973 and 1976, respectively,
and the Ph.D. degree in industrial engineering and psychology from Texas Tech
University, Lubbock, in 1980.
He is currently Professor and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at
the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. He has over 30 years of instructional,
professional and research experience and has authored over 200 publications.
He has 17 recent publications in both biomechanical and industrial engineering
and has also supervised 18 Ph.D. dissertations.
Arzu Onar received the B.S. degree in mathematical sciences at the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1993 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
in statistics from University of South Carolina, Columbia, in 1995 and 1998,
respectively.
She is currently a faculty member at the Biostatistics Department, St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. Her research interests are in statistical
reliability and in survival analysis.
Jon A. Bayliss received the A.S. degree in computer engineering technology
from Tampa Technical Institute, Tampa, FL, in 1979, and the B.S. degree in
electrical engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, in
1986.
He is currently an Electrical Engineer in the Electronic Failure Analysis Section,
Engineering Directorate for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Kennedy Space Center, FL.
Lawrence L. Ludwig received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from
the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, in 1986 and the M.S. degree
in engineering management from the University of Central Florida, Orlando, in
1992.
He is currently a Lead Electrical Engineer in Electronic Failure Analysis Section,
Engineering Directorate for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Kennedy Space Center, FL.
Maria C. Wright received the B.S. degree in materials science and engineering
from the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 2002 and the M.S. degree in materials
science and engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, University
Park, in 2005.
She is currently a Materials Engineer in the Materials Failure Analysis Section,
Engineering Directorate for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
at Kennedy Space Center, FL.
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