Colorimetric visualization of tin corrosion: A method for early stage corrosion detection on printed circuit boards

A majority of printed circuit board surfaces are covered with tin, therefore tin corrosion under humid conditions and movement of tin ions under the influence of an electric field plays an important role in the corrosion failure development. Tracking tin corrosion products spread on the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) provides a basis for the mechanistic understanding of PCBA corrosion failures and leak current tracks which eventually can lead to electrochemical migration. This paper presents a method for identification of such failures at the early stage of corrosion by using a colorimetric tin ion indicator applied as a gel. The examples provided in this paper include visualization of corrosion caused by weak organic acids found in solder fluxes, corrosion profiling on the PCBAs after climatic device level testing, and failure analysis of field returns.