Degrading effect of high-altitude corona on electronic circuit boards

Author

Karady, George G. ; Sirkis, Murray D. ; Oliva, Jose R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA

Volume

26

Issue

6

fYear

1991

fDate

12/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1216

Lastpage

1219

Abstract

A printed circuit board with attached components has been subjected to corona discharges for 200 h at a pressure of 8.66 Pa. The preliminary investigations indicate that: (1) High altitude corona discharges produce visible surface degradation on electronic circuit boards and mounted components. (2) The deterioration is most pronounced in the regions where the electric field is greatest. (3) The solder coating has been removed in localized areas of the interconnecting paths and the underlying copper is now exposed. (4) The circuit board becomes covered with a white dust, the composition of which is still unknown. (5) The deterioration increases with increased exposure up to 200 h, the maximum exposure time considered here

Keywords

corona; life testing; printed circuit testing; 200 h; 8.66 Pa; corona discharges; deterioration; electric field; electronic circuit boards; exposure time; high-altitude corona; solder coating; surface degradation; Circuit testing; Conducting materials; Corona; Degradation; Dielectric materials; Dielectrics and electrical insulation; Electronic circuits; Integrated circuit interconnections; Plastics; Printed circuits;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electrical Insulation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9367

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/14.108161

Filename

108161