A Novel Technique for Determining the Location of a Hermetic Leak in a ‘Metal Can’ (TO-x) Package

Root-cause analysis of hermetic leak failures is complicated by the difficulty in isolating the leak location. Standard dye penetrant inspection is not consistently successful. The addition of pressure to the dye penetrant, followed by metallographic mounting and preparation, and subsequently followed by vacuum storage, greatly enhances the visibility of the dye and more effectively decorates the leak location.