Corrosion of metallic materials

Corrosion processes are important in the degradation of electronic components. By nature of thin and closely-spaced metallic sections, electronic components are prone to corrosion failures even in the presence of traces of moisture and contaminants. Atmospheric corrosion, an electrochemical process under the influence of thin-film electrolytes, is primarily responsible for corrosion damage in electronics and can lead to premature failures even in indoor atmospheres. In attempting to minimize the risk of corrosion failures, it is important to account for corrosion damage during the design stage, manufacturing processes, storage, shipping, and in service use. Carefully-designed accelerated corrosion-tests are used to predict the performance of electronic components. Many sensitive analytical techniques and instrumentation are available for determining the mechanism and causes of electronic corrosion failures. Many sources of corrosion information are available for consultation on the performance of candidate materials, but, unfortunately, most are not tailored specifically to the electronics industry