4 ms·
As someone with a materials science/engineering background, I'm a bit skeptical of the claim that no-one knows why the whiskers grow. Usually a given material c
by ph0rque 19y ago
As someone with a materials science/engineering background, I'm a bit skeptical of the claim that no-one knows why the whiskers grow. Usually a given material changes its state/configuration because that's the lowest thermodynamical configuration for that material to be in given the particular temperature/pressure. Maybe I'm way off base here, but I think the whiskers are growing due to elevated temperature caused by resistance heating...?
- mechanical_fish 19y agoYou are correct as far as you go, but what you're saying is contained in the first ten pages of any book on device reliability. There is at least one whole Ph.D. project's worth of additional research between your statement and the time when you throw up your hands in despair because your Monte Carlo models just don't seem to work. If you really want to know, you'll have to read the papers. I'm sure there are quite a lot of them. The incentive to solve this problem is very, very high.
- ph0rque 19y agoSure, what I'm saying is just the basic stuff. What I was getting at was the air of mystery in Cringely's column regarding why the whiskers grow. I guess I want to know as much as you want to look up the papers :~).
- mechanical_fish 19y agoI slept through this class once already. Now it is your turn. :)