666 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENTS AND PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES, VOL. 30, NO.

4, DECEMBER 2007

The Corrosion of Electronic Resistors

Michael Reid, Jeff Punch, Claire Ryan, John Franey, Gustav E. Derkits, Jr., William D. Reents, Jr., and
Luis F. Garfias

Abstract—Precision thick chip resistors are used in a variety of

different industries, from telecommunications to automotive elec-
tronics, and as such can be exposed to mild and aggressive cor-
rosive environments. This paper investigates the corrosion perfor-
mance of two generic precision thick chip resistors in a controlled
corrosive atmosphere consisting of 60 C, 4 ppm H2 S and water
vapor in purified air. The resistors were exposed in an environ-
mental chamber for periods of 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 days. Following
exposure, the samples were cross sectioned and subjected to sur-
face analysis using microscopy and microanalysis. After the ini-
tial stages of exposure, corrosion was observed on only one of the
two types of resistors. The corrosion developed because H2 S gas
and water vapor diffuses through the thin protective organic layer
on the resistor, and subsequently reacts with the silver conductor
layer. Corrosion was facilitated by poor overlapping of the solder Fig. 1. Anatomy of a standard mount chip resistor [3].
and nickel layer and, in particular the glass binder over the glass
overcoat, which allowed silver and sulphur to diffuse along the
interface. In addition, this poor overlapping allowed contact be-
tween the nickel layer and the silver layer resulting in the devel-
indicating intermittent failure. The physical condition and elec-
opment of an electrochemical corrosion cell. The main corrosion trical characteristics of a resistor may provide significant infor-
products that developed were silver sulfide (Ag2 S) and nickel sul- mation about the root cause of a failure. This study focuses on
phur residue. the corrosion-related failure of precision thick chip resistors,
Index Terms—Atmospheric corrosion, precision thick chip resis- Fig. 1 demonstrates a view of the main elements of a chip re-
tors, printed circuit board (PCB), silver sulphide (Ag2 S). sistor [3]. Typically, the basic elements of the resistor are: a ce-
ramic substrate; wraparound terminations; a resistor element be-
tween the terminations (typically made of Ag); a glass overcoat
I. INTRODUCTION over the resistor element and a polymer coating over the glass
overcoat. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the wraparound terminations

I N order for electronic components to function to specifica-

tion, reliability of device packaging is crucial. Failures of
electronic components and packages not only cause the mal-
function of the devices themselves but also sometimes lead to
catastrophic failure of whole systems [1]. Of all microelectronic
device failures, corrosion related mechanisms are estimated to
be responsible for more than 20% of them [2].
Surface mount thick chip resistors are often considered to be
the simplest and most inexpensive amongst all of the compo-
nents used in electronic circuits and systems [3]. However, re-
sistor failures in some systems are often responsible for com-
plete functional breakdown. Typically, resistor failure modes in-
clude open circuits, resistive shorts or variations in resistance
Manuscript received June 28, 2006; revised January 10, 2007. This work was
supported by the Science Foundation of Ireland under Grant 03/CE3/I405. This
work was recommended for publication by Associate Edior L. Nguyen upon
evaluation of the reviewers comments.
M. Reid, J. Punch, and C. Ryan are with the CTVR, Stokes Institute,
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland (e-mail: michael.reid@ul.ie;
jeff.punch@ul.ie; claire.ryan@ul.ie).
J. Franey, G. E. Derkits, Jr., and W. D. Reents, Jr. are with Alcatel-Lucent,
Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974 USA (e-mail: jpf@alcatel-lu-
cent.com; derkits@alcatel-lucent.com; wreents@alcatel-lucent.com).
L. F. Garfias is with S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Racine WI 53403 USA (e-mail:
lfgarfia@scj.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TCAPT.2007.901749
1521-3331/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE
generally comprise three layers: a conductor layer on the inside;
a solder layer on the outside; and a protective barrier [typically
nickel (Ni)] between the conductor and the solder layer. The
wraparound (termination) acts as a low resistance interconnect
between traces on a printed circuit board (PCB) and the resistor
element. In addition a thin conformal organic epoxy layer is typ-
ically applied to the resistor in order to impede the corrosion of
the resistor by limiting the diffusion time taken for the water
vapor and pollutant gases to reach the resistor surface. Due to
the high demand of surface mount thick chip resistor compo-
nents, numerous different resistors are commercially available
with a variety of designs. The scope of this work is to examine
the failure mechanism of two precision thick chip resistors with
distinctly different designs, which are, representative of current
resistor designs in printed circuit board assembly and subject
the resistors to a well-defined corrosive condition over a 60 day
period.
Corrosion can lead to failure in a resistor device by reacting
with or removing the conductive material of the resistive el-
ement or device terminations, thereby leading to an increase
in resistance. The literature reports that mainly, silver (Ag) re-
acts with sulphur (S) to form a non-conductive silver sulphide
(Ag S) thick film which can then lead to open-circuit some or
all of the resistive elements in a resistor [4]. Hydrogen sulphide
(H S) and high levels of relative humidity (RH) have been iden-
tified as the primary atmospheric constituents responsible for

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REID et al.: CORROSION OF ELECTRONIC RESISTORS 667

TABLE I
DIFFUSION COEFFICIENTS FOR H O AND H S IN THIN
CONFORMAL ORGANIC EPOXY LAYER [14], [15]

Fig. 2. Dimensions and boundary conditions of planar layer.

the degradation of Ag and some alloys commonly used in elec-

tronic industry [5], [6]. As such, in this study, the combination
of 90% RH and 4 ppm H S was used to represent a highly accel-
erated condition for the corrosion of the resistors [7]–[12]. The
high concentration of H S is more suitable to give data for elec-
tronic components deployed in the Central and Latin America,
Asia, and Pacific regions. In order to accelerate the diffusion of
the gas and water vapor, the samples were exposed for a 60 day
period at 90% RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S. Samples of each type
of resistors were extracted from the gas chamber at pre-defined
intervals, and a range of materials characterization techniques
were applied to investigate the progression to failure of the re-
sistor components.

II. DIFFUSION MODEL

Fig. 3. Normalized concentration of H S versus time for different temperature
values.
The corrosion of the resistor is limited by the diffusion time
taken for the water vapor and H S gas to penetrate the thin con-
formal organic layer. A closed-form analytical expression for The following boundary and initial conditions apply:
the transient diffusion of species such as water vapor and H S
through a planar layer is presented here. The expression is used
(2)
to determine the time-varying concentration of H O and H S at
the interface between a polymeric coating and a metallic sub- (3)
strate. (4)
Fig. 2 shows the dimensions and boundary conditions of tran-
sient 1-D diffusion through a planar layer. The following as- From Incropera and De Witt (1990), the mass concentration at
sumptions apply. the plane of interest is given by [13]
• The thickness of the layer is negligible in comparison with
any planar dimension. This imposes 1-D mass diffusion in
the -direction.
• At the plane of interest, 0, the layer is in contact with
a metallic layer, so mass transfer is negligible. (5)
• The surface of the layer, , is exposed to a well-
stirred fluid, so the boundary layer contributes negligible To incorporate the influence of temperature, the coefficient of
resistance to mass transfer. diffusion, , can be assumed to display the following form:
• There is initially a uniform concentration, , within the
layer at time zero, and the layer is then exposed to an am- (6)
bient with concentration , at time zero, 0.
• No chemical interaction occurs between the H O and H S
where is the absolute temperature (K); is the activation en-
species, or between these species and the polymer layer.
ergy (eV); is the Boltzmann’s constant, 8.617 10 (eV/K);
• The temperature of the layer is uniform.
is the reference temperature (K); and is the dif-
The transient mass transfer within the layer is governed by
fusion coefficient (m /s) at reference temperature. Table I lists
the physical properties for the diffusion of H O and H S in thin
(1) conformal organic epoxy layer.
As an illustration of the behavior of (6), Fig. 3 shows the
where normalized concentration of H S as function of time for 40 and
mass concentration in consistent units (kg/m , ppm); 60 C. The difference in the time taken for H S to reach the
coefficient of diffusion (m /s). surface of the resistor is significantly affected by temperature,

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668 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENTS AND PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES, VOL. 30, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2007
such that at 20 C it would take approximately three years to
reach 4 ppm H S, while at 60 C it would take approximately
eight days. H O reaches equilibrium rapidly, taking no longer
than four days at 60 C. The practicality of testing the resistors at
either room temperature or 40 C is unacceptable with regard to
test time for such components, therefore samples were exposed
at 60 C.
III. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
A. Sample Preparation
Two different types of commercially available 100 1608
precision thick chip resistors were used for this study (type
A and type B). Prior to corrosion testing, the specimens were
rinsed with isopropyl alcohol followed by distilled water and
dried with nitrogen.
B. Generation of Corrosive Atmosphere
The tests were performed over a 60 day period with removal
of 10 samples of each type of resistors (A and B) after 5, 10,
15, 30, and 60 days exposure. The chamber had a volume ex-
change of four times/h—a volumetric flow rate of 6 l/h, yielding
a mean local velocity within the chamber of order 0.6 mm/s. Al-
though this velocity is low, it is evident from an assessment of
the convective mass transfer rate that transport within the gas
phase is fast relative to the consumption rate at the surface. In
order to achieve 90% RH, a small liquid flow of water was fed to
a mixing chamber in which the flow was directly controlled and
mixed with the injected carrier gas (directly provided by a gas
cylinder H S 4 ppm mixed with purified air). Subsequently, this
gas-vapor-liquid mixture was lead to a temperature controlled
heat exchange to achieve complete evaporation mixing. The
H S data was measured periodically with grab-sample measure-
ments made with a Jerome 631X series meter (Arizona Instru-
ments, Tempe, AZ). The gas and liquid flows were metered by
Bronkhorst High-Tech EL-FLOW LIQUI-FLOW controllers,
respectively. The water was mixed with the gas, which was sub-
sequently evaporated and supplied to an exposure chamber held
at desired temperature. Pure copper coupons where also place
strategically in the chamber and used to confirm exposure con-
ditions.
C. Analytical Techniques
Samples were examined visually using a Leica Zoom 2000
stereozoom microscope, and then mounted and mechanically
polished to a 1 m diamond paste finish. After metallographic
preparation, the microstructures were examined under a ZEISS
Axioskop optical microscope (OM). A JEOL JSM-840 scanning
electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a Princeton Gamma-
Tech (PGT) energy analysis dispersive x-ray (EDS) system was
employed to obtain high magnification electron images and to
conduct chemical analysis, respectively. The resistor surfaces
were studied using the secondary electron mode. This mode
does not offer atomic contrast, but enables imaging at a higher
resolution and is more sensitive to the morphology of the spec-
imen surfaces.
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Fig. 4. (a) Stereo-micrograph image of as-received type A resistor, (b) left
side, and (c) right side cross sectioned backscattered electron images of resistor
coating termination boundary interface at L–L and R–R in (a).
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. As-Received Resistor
The image depicted in Fig. 4(a) shows stereo-microscope
image of resistor type A obtained in the as-received condition,
with, Fig. 4(b) and (c) showing cross sections of the left and
right side of the coating termination boundary interface, re-
spectively. Fig. 4(b) and (c) shows that both sides exhibited
similar structure, comprising an outer bright layer of SnPb
solder approximately 10 m thick, above a darker Ni layer
approximately 14 m thick, with both layers over-lapping the
overcoat between 50 to 80 m. The SnPb solder and Ni layer
surrounds a Ag layer which, by over-lapping the overcoat acts
as a seal with existing glass overcoat.
Fig. 5(a) depicts a stereo-microscope image of resistor type
B obtained in the as-received condition, with, Fig. 5(b) and (c)
showing cross sections of areas labelled in Fig. 5(a) as –
and – of the left and right side of the coating termination
boundary interface, espectively. Fig. 5(b) and (c) shows that
both sides exhibited similar structure comprising an outer bright
layer of SnPb solder approximately 7 m thick, above a darker
Ni layer approximately 5 m thick, with both layers over-lap-
ping the overcoat between 5 to 20 m. The SnPb solder and
Ni layer also surrounds a Ag frit glass binder layer over a Ag
layer, of which the glass binder layer extends over to the glass
overcoat. The glass binder layer, by extending to over-lap the
overcoat, should act as a more hermetic seal with existing glass
overcoat, than just the Ni layer in type A. However, in most cross
sectioned resistors of type B in the as-received condition, little
or no over-lap was observed.
B. After Exposure to Humid H S Conditions
The image depicted in Fig. 6 shows a typical type A resistor
after 60 days exposure at 90% RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S. The
REID et al.: CORROSION OF ELECTRONIC RESISTORS
Fig. 5. (a) Stereo-micrograph image of as-received type B resistor (b) left
side and (c) right side cross sectioned backscattered electron images of resistor
coating termination boundary interface at L–L and R–R in (a).
Fig. 6. Stereo-micrograph of type A resistors after 60 days exposure to 90%
RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S.
resistor showed no visible signs of corrosion following optical,
SEM and EDS detailed external examination. In direct con-
trast, the type B resistor demonstrated clear evidence of corro-
sion. The images depicted in the series of Fig. 7(a)–(e) shows
stereo-microscope images of type B resistors which were ob-
tained after five, ten, 15, 30, and 60 days exposure to 90% RH,
60 C and 4 ppm H S, respectively. After initial exposure of 5
and 10 days [Fig. 7(a) and (b)], a number of the resistors showed
corrosion product development at the interface between the dark
overcoat and the bright solder. Fig. 7(c) shows the develop-
ment of dark grey and green coloring of residue at the interface
after 15 days exposure. Following more prolonged exposure,
the green residue became more pronounced, particularly after
60 days exposure [see Fig. 7(e)] and appears to be mainly lo-
cated at the edges of the resistor. The dark grey residue observed
after 15 days exposure continued to develop at the interface after
30 and 60 days exposure, however, not to the same extent as
the green residue. The grey corrosion product is consistent with
a grey Ag S which typically forms on Ag after exposure to a
humid S containing environment [7]–[10], [12]. The green cor-
rosion product would indicate a Ni sulphate, which forms on Ni
after exposure to similar conditions [12], [16].
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669
Fig. 7. Stereo-micrographs of type B resistors after (a) 5, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 30,
and (e) 60 days exposure to 90% RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S.
To characterize the corrosion residue that developed on type
B resistors after exposure, more detailed analysis of the resistors
was conducted using SEM and EDS. Fig. 8 shows a secondary
electron image of the interface between the glass overcoat and
the solder termination after 10 days exposure. The corrosion
products that were observed at the interface between the over-
coat and the termination [Fig. 7(a)–(e)] are shown in Fig. 8(a) to
extend above the normal surface of the resistor. The corrosion
product at the interface demonstrated two distinct morpholo-
gies, first a smooth shaped residue corresponding to the green
corrosion product observed optically [Fig. 8(b)]; and secondly,
a residue with distinctly faceted features corresponding to the
grey corrosion product [Fig. 8(c)]. Quantitative EDS analysis
carried out on the smooth shaped corrosion products highlighted
the presence of Ni and S [Fig. 8(b)], while the faceted areas
comprised mainly Ag and S with traces of silicon (Si) and Ni
[Fig. 8(c)].
In order to determine the cause of the corrosion products
which developed on the surface of the resistors after exposure,
the resistors were cross sectioned and analysed using SEM and
EDS. As indicated by the clear absence of corrosion products
on the external surface of type A resistor in Fig. 6 after 60 days
exposure, cross section analysis showed no evidence of corro-
sion of the Ag layer. This would indicate that the SnPb solder
and Ni layer by over-lapping the overcoat did indeed perform as
barrier for S diffusion and protected the Ag layer.
Fig. 9 shows a backscattered electron image of the right hand
side of a type B resistor after 15 days exposure. Table II shows
the results of quantitative EDS spot analysis carried out on spots
taken from selected areas labelled in Fig. 9. It can be clearly
670 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENTS AND PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES, VOL. 30, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2007
Fig. 8. SEM and EDS spectrum of type B device after 10 days exposure to
90% RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S: (a) secondary electron image of the interface
between the glass overcoat and the solder termination, (b) EDS spectrum of the
smooth shaped residue (green corrosion products), and (c) EDS spectrum of the
faceted residues (grey corrosion products).
seen in Fig. 9 that corrosion products developed on the surface
of the resistor, most noticeably on the overcoat, where corrosion
products built up at the interface between the overcoat and the
solder termination (spots 2–4 in Fig. 9). The thin layer of Ag
in the region underneath where the solder termination “curls”
would also appear to be corroded (spot 1 in Fig. 9).
Fig. 10 shows a backscattered electron image of the right hand
side of a type B resistor after 30 days exposure to 90% RH,
60 C and 4 ppm H S. Similar to previous results [Fig. 7(a)–(e)]
it can be clearly seen that corrosion products developed on the
surface of the resistor. The formation of Ag S on the surface of
the resistor and underneath the overcoat in the Ag base would
indicate that both Ag and S both migrated along the interface.
Additionally, the Ag in the glass binder layer appears to be cor-
roded. However, it is worth noting that when EDS analysis was
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Fig. 9. Cross sectioned backscattered electron cross section image of the type
B resistor after 15 days exposure to 90% RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S. (Note:
EDS spot annotations show in Table II).
TABLE II
COMPOSITION OF SPOTS LABELLED IN FIG. 9 OF TYPE B RESISTOR AFTER
15 DAYS EXPOSURE TO 90% RH, 60 C AND 4 PPM H S
conducted on the dark regions in the glass binder layer there was
no Ag S. The latter could be a result of Ag which diffused from
the glass binder along the interface boundary between the glass
overcoat and the SnPb/Ni layers to the surface of the resistor.
It is possible. When the Ag becomes exposed to a fresh H S
environment and water available in the surface it oxidized the
H S to S [12]. At high relative humidities ( 75%RH), several
monolayers of water form on the surface and the H S dissolves
easily and dissociates to HS ion species, with the S attacking
the Ag [12], [19]. On dry surfaces where there is less than one
monolayer of water ( 40%RH), on the surface, dissociative ab-
sorption of H S onto the metal lattice, occurs preferentially at
any surface defect. Where normal bonding of the Ag structure is
unstable, Ag S corrosion products nucleate at the unstable sites.
As mentioed earlier, humidity plays a very important role in the
corrosion of Ag. Literature data shows that by increasing the rel-
ative humidity the corrosion rate of Ag is accelerated [12]. This
could explain why more extensive Ag S develops on the surface
of the resistor. In contrast, corrosion of the Ag conducting layer
is not as aggressive.
As mentioned above, the Ag S films have been recognized as
the major corrosion products on Ag [7]–[12]. Previously, it has
been shown that Ni is quite resistant to corrosion [12], [16]–[18],
[20]–[23]. However, the role of Ni during the corrosion of the
resistor is not clear. The results here indicate that significant Ni
corrosion occurs, such that Ni would appear to be the domi-
nant corrosion product after prolonged exposure. The images
depicted in Fig. 11(a) and (b) demonstrated backscattered elec-
tron images of the left and right hand side of a type B resistor
after 30 days exposure, respectively.
REID et al.: CORROSION OF ELECTRONIC RESISTORS 671

Fig. 10. Backscattered electron cross section image of the type B resistor after
30 days exposure to 90% RH, 60 C and 440ppm H S.

Both images in Fig. 11(a) and (b) show that the corrosion
products that developed under the solder termination have re-
sulted in fracture of the solder layer. The latter would be due to
the increased volume of the corrosion products. Further analysis
using elemental mapping [Figs. 11(c)] revealed that the corro-
sion product to be mainly Ni and S rich, with islands of Ag and S
enrichment encapsulated in the Ni and S rich corrosion product.
Previous data has suggested that Ni is unlikely to be corroded
by H S [12]. As such, it is possible that the coupling of the
Ag and the Ni layer may act as a site for an electrochemical
corrosion cell. As a result of the high humidity and dissociation
of the H S to HS ion results in a concentrated solution, thereby
providing a conductivity path between the Ag and the Ni. The
result is an accelerated attack of the Ni layer resulting in the
formation of Ni and S corrosion products [observed in Fig. 6(a)
and (b)]. The coupling of the Ni and Ag layers are facilitated
by the gap between the glass binder (not overlapping) with the
overcoat, allowing the Ni layer to come in contact with the Ag
Fig. 11. SEM and EDS of type B resistor after 30 days exposure to 90% RH,
layer. This creates the diffusion of moisture along the interface 60 C and 4 ppm H S: (a) backscattered electron cross sectioned images of the
and enables the conducting electrolytic path between the two left side and (b) right side; and (c) elemental mapping of (a).
layers.
Precision chip resistors are generally robust components and,
despite the level of corrosion which was observed on the Type B clear need to revise the Battelle MFG classes system in order to
resistor, no significant increase in resistance was observed after equate equivalent field life in regions of the world where consid-
exposure. As a consequence, it may be necessary to combine erably more demanding environmental conditions are observed.
electrical stresses with the exposure in order to discern perfor-
mance differences between the Type A and B resistors. Further-
V. CONCLUSION
more, it is clear that environmental stress tests, such as Battelle
mixed flowing gas (MFG), are more suitable for North America Corrosion of the type B resistors occurred after five day ex-
and Western Europe but unsuitable to give life data for electronic posure and continued to develop up to 60 days exposure to 90%
components deployed in Central and Latin America, Asia and RH, 60 C and 4 ppm H S, while type A resistor showed no
Pacific region or parts of the Middle East where pollutant levels signs of corrosion. It can be deducted that the corrosion of the
are considerably higher [24]–[26]. In addition, these tests are not type B resistor was due to reactions between the S environment
sufficiently severe to screen out marginal electronic parts sus- and the Ag layer creating an electrochemical corrosion cell be-
ceptible to corrosion-related failures. The Battelle MFG classes tween the Ag and Ni layer. The main corrosion products that
system was originally designed to equate equivalent field ser- developed were Ag S and Ni sulphur residue. The root cause
vice time to chamber exposure times for components deployed of corrosion can be attributed to poor overlapping of the solder
in North American and Europe regions [27]–[29]. There is a and Ni layer and, in particular, the glass binder over the glass

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672 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENTS AND PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES, VOL. 30, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2007
overcoat, which allowed Ag and S to diffuse along the inter-
face. Furthermore, poor overlapping permitted contact between
the Ni layer and the Ag layer resulting in electrochemical cor-
rosion cell.
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Michael Reid is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Stokes Institute,
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, where he specializes in reliability
physics. He is in active collaboration with Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technolo-
gies, Nokia Corporation, Molex Ireland, and SC Johnson in reliability research,
specifically related to materials science, metallurgy, microscopy, and corrosion.
He is currently supervising three postgraduate students and mentoring two post-
doctoral researchers.
Jeff Punch is the Director of Micro-Mechanical Engineering Group, Stokes
Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, collaborating with the In-
stitute’s partners and clients on a range of research programmes. He is cur-
rently leading the Test and Reliability Strand, Center for Telecommunications
Value-Chain Research (CTVR), an SFI-funded multi-university research pro-
gramme in collaboration with Bell Laboratories. He has a strong track-record in
governmental and industrial research programs, and he is currently supervising
five postgraduate students and mentoring two postdoctoral researchers.
Claire Ryan is currently a Research Fellow at the Stokes Institute, University of
Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, working on a number of solder reliability projects.
Claire has a number of years experience working in consultancy and research
in the area of electronics manufacturing, reliability and failure analysis. She is
Chairperson of the Steering and Technical Committees of SMART Group Ire-
land and is also a Member of the Reliability Technical Expert Group, European
Lead Free Network (ELFNET) Consortium.
John Franey is a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Lucent Technolo-
gies Reliability Physics Group, Murray Hill, NJ. He joined Bell Laboratories in
1970. His work has been focused on failure analysis and the interactions of ma-
terials with people and atmospheric environments. John has 36 U.S. and Foreign
Patents in the areas of corrosion and ESD protection, and has authored over 100
papers in those areas of expertise. Currently, he has the responsibility of deter-
mining the root cause of failures for Lucent product along with determining the
path for current and future mitigation of those issues.
Gustav E. Derkits is a Member of Technical Staff, Lucent Technologies Relia-
bility Physics Group, Murray Hill, NJ. He joined Bell Laboratories in 1982 and
has worked in a variety of technical areas including design and fabrication of
III–V electronic and optoelectronic devices, and physics and chemistry issues
affecting yield, quality, and reliability of telecommunications products. He has
over 30 U.S. patents and has authored over 20 papers in reviewed journals.
William D. Reents, Jr. is a Consulting Member of Technical Staff and Acting
Manager of the Reliability Physics Group, Murray Hill, NJ. He joined Bell Lab-
oratories in 1980, working in several areas of research and root cause analysis.
His areas of specialty include package hermeticity, organic contamination and
gas and particle contamination issues. Since 2001, he has been a member of the
Reliability Department, focusing on forwarding looking reliability activities, in-
cluding device-level assessments and corrosion-related issues.
Luis F. Garfias is currently employed at SC Johnson, Racine, WI, working in
the areas of materials science, microscopy, and environmental and corrosion sci-
ences. He previously worked for eight years in the Reliability Research Depart-
ment, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, working in the areas of materials
science, corrosion, environmental, and biomaterials. His work at Bell Laborato-
ries was primarily related to the reliability of electronic hardware in aggressive
environments.