In a typical semiconductor integrated circuits (SICs) component, corrosion may be observed at the chip level and at the termination area of the lead frames that are plated with a solderable metal or alloy, such as tin and tin-lead alloys that are susceptible to corrosion. This article focuses on the key factors contributing to corrosion of electronic components, namely, chemicals (salts containing halides, sulfides, acids, and alkalis), temperature, air (polluted air), moisture, contact between dissimilar metals in a wet condition, applied potential differences, and stress. It discusses the chip corrosion and oxidation of tin and tin-lead alloys (solders) in SIC. The article also addresses the corrosion of the device terminations resulting in lead (termination) tarnishing that are caused by various factors, including galvanic corrosion, chemical residues, base metal migration and plating additives.

This article provides information on various forms of corrosion that occur in electronic packaging. Portable consumer electronic hardware which is subjected to humidity exposures is prone to condensed moisture and liquid damage. The article discusses two other corrosion-related phenomena that are found only in electronics, namely, electrochemical migration (ECM) and conductive anodic filament formation (CAF). It describes the corrosion that takes place in metals such as copper, tin, and tin-lead alloys, which are commonly used in electronic packaging. The article also discusses the corrosion of the components used in electronic assemblies.

This article describes the specimen preparation steps for tin and tin alloys, and for harder base metals which are coated with these materials with illustrations. The steps discussed include sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching. The article provides information on etchants for tin and tin alloys in tabular form. It presents the procedure recommended for electron microscopy to determine the nature of the intermetallic compound formed by the reaction between tin or tin-lead coatings on various substrates. The article concludes with an illustration of the microstructures of tin-copper, tin-lead, tin-lead-cadmium, tin-antimony, tin-antimony-copper, tin-antimony-copper-lead, tin-silver, tin-indium, tin-zinc, and tin-zinc-copper systems.