Corrosion Failure Modes of Silver and Related Mechanisms

Abstract

As the second part of a series of articles describing corrosion behavior of silver, this article presents corrosion mechanism and failure modes seen for the electronic equipment under corrosive conditions. Inherent electrical bias associated with electronics application may cause electrolytic corrosion and electrochemical migration when the surface insulation resistance of dielectrics is reduced because of moisture absorption and condensation. Even a very thin tarnishing film formed may cause degradation of electrical and electronic performance as well as optical performance. Galvanic corrosion, corrosion product creep and whisker formation are also described.