Tin whisker phenomenon in electronic packaging and its control strategy

Tin whiskers are elongated, needle-like single crystals of tin that form spontaneously on the surface of pure tin (Sn) or tin-containing alloys. These whiskers are usually only a few microns in diameter, but can be several millimetres or even more than 10 millimetres long, which can cause serious reliability problems. The following is a comprehensive explanation of the mechanism of tin whisker growth, the factors affecting it, and the measures taken to suppress it: