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Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801
I remember reading somewhere (can't remember sadly) that the theory at the time was a small hole in the oxide forms, and the metal (tin in that paper) would be squeezed through the hole like toothpaste...
It might explain why sometimes you can take something really old that hasn't been disturbed, move it, have it stop working, clean and dust it out, and have it start working again.
Registered Member #543
Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992
I wonder how the whiskers know what shape they are supposed to be, which direction to grow in, how long they should grow, when their growth should start and stop, and whether they are 'aware' of the presence of other whiskers which might retard their own development.
Does the metal lose mass to the whiskers? If so, what replaces it?
Registered Member #33
Joined: Sat Feb 04 2006, 01:31PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 971
Fascinating stuff, but very annoying. I have a lot of problems with whisker growth inside my Hammond organ, shorting out switches and busbars. Some of the metal surfaces inside it are visibly hairy.
Registered Member #1232
Joined: Wed Jan 16 2008, 10:53PM
Location: Doon tha Toon!
Posts: 881
The phenomenon of tin whiskers is quite well known in the electronics industry. Up until recently it has been dealt with by the inclusion of lead into solder, and not using bright tin finish for component leadframes etc. Lead was found highly effective at preventing whisker growth. Then someone had the smart idea of outlawing lead from electronics!
I wonder if there will be a wave of electronic devices failing due to tin whisker growth to hit consumer appliances 10 years from now!
Of course life-support technologies and military applications are exempt from the move to Pb-free. So any application in which you are either trying to sustain life or promptly end it will likely not be effected!
Registered Member #543
Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992
I had a little poke about on Google, and it seems that the whiskers - and how to grow them to order - are an important area of nano-materials research.
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Weird phenomenon called metal whiskers
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