This section of the www site is a repository for reference information on whiskers that may form on metal finishes OTHER than pure Tin.  Follow the LITERATURE REFERENCES Link for a comprehensive listing of TIN whisker reference materials.

OTHER (i.e., Non-Tin) METAL WHISKERS

Zinc (Zn) Whiskers

Photo Gallery of Zinc Whiskers Found on Raised Floor Structures

1. J. Brusse, M. Sampson, "Zinc Whiskers:  Hidden Cause of Equipment Failure", IEEE IT Professional Magazine, 2004 Nov/Dec, Vol. 6 No. 6, pp 43-47
2. H. Reynolds, R. Hilty, "Investigations of Zinc (Zn) Whiskers using FIB Technology", IPC/JEDEC Boston, Dec. 2004
                - Technical Paper
                - Technical Presentation
3. "Zinc whiskers found in War Memorial", ComputerWorld-Australia, M. Crawford, Aug. 12, 2004
4. "Pesky Whiskers Zap PCs in Secretary of State's Office", The Denver Post, A. Svaldi, July 1, 2004, Page C-01
5. "Zinc whiskers tangle data centre ops", ComputerWorld-Australia, J. Bajkowski, Feb. 12, 2004
6. "Metallic Whisker Sources: Access Floor Tiles are Not the Only Source in Mission Critical Environment", Worldwide Environmental Services, March 2004
7. "Zinc Whisker Awareness:  Could Zinc Whiskers Be Impacting Your Electronics?", J. Brusse QSS Group at NASA Goddard - Technical Presentation, April 2003
8. Zinc Whisker Contamination:  A Paper on the Effect and Abatement of Zinc Whiskers in Data Processing Centers, D. Loman (HP Services) 
9. "Are Zinc Whiskers Growing in Your Computer Room?",  R. Hill (Data Clean Corp.)
10. "Zinc Whisker Induced Failures in Electronic Systems", ERA Technology, Winter 2003
11. "Is Your Computer Floor Corrupting Your Data? - You May Be Suffering from Zinc Whiskers", DCA Technologies, Australia
12. Invisible 'Zinc Whiskers' Cause Troubles in Machine Rooms at Banks, Data Centers, Nikkei Electronics Asia,  Dec. 2002
13. "Cheese and Whiskers", In-Business South Australia, Dec 2002/Jan 2004, D. Twiss 
14. "Zinc Whisker Contamination of Electronics", MATCO Associates
15. "What Nasty Little Things are Lurking Inside Your Data Center?" Unisys World Monthly, Nov. 2002
16. "Method for sampling and testing data centers for metallic particulates (including zinc whiskers)" HP US Patent Application #20020162405, Nov. 2002
17. "Zinc Whiskers:  What are they and how do we deal with them?"  Cooper B-Line
18. "Floating Zinc Whiskers Strike at PC Systems", u-the Inquirer
19. "Sun Microsystems Best Practices Guide", Sun Microsystems, July 2000
20. Apnea Monitor Failures:  J. Downs, "The Phenomenon of Zinc Whisker Growth and the Rotary Switch (or, How the Switch Industry Captured the Abominable Snowman)", Metal Finishing, August 1994, pp. 23-25
21. "Zinc Whiskers Growing on Raised Floor Tiles are Causing Conductive Contamination Failures and Equipment Shutdowns", The Uptime Institute
22. "Zinc Whiskers on Floor Tiles", Infinite Access Floors
23. "Are You Having Unexplained Outages? Zinc Whiskers", BACS IT Protection - Australia
24. "Precautions Against Zinc Whiskers", Compaq
25. "Zinc Whisker Abatement", Worldwide Environmental Services
26. "Zinc Whiskers Overview", Infinite Access Floors-Australia
27. "Zinc Whiskers (Finishing Dot Com Forum Discussion)", Finishing Dot Com
28. D. Conwell, "Zinc Whisker Shorting in Vacuum", LMAO Astronautics Mission Success, July 20, 2001
29. T. Nagai, K. Natori and T. Furusawa, "Rate of Short Circuit Caused by Whisker Growth on Zn Electroplated Steels in Electronic Appliance", J. Japan Inst. Metals, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 303 - 307, 1989
30. T. Takemura, M. Kobayashi, M. Okutani, T. Kakeshita and K. Shimizu, "Relation Between the Direction of Whisker Growth and the Crystallographic Texture of Zinc Electroplate", Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Part 1 - Regular Papers Short Notes & Review Papers, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 1948-1949, 1986
31. U. Lindborg, "A Model for the Spontaneous Growth of Zinc, Cadmium, and Tin Whiskers," Acta Metallurgica, vol. 24, p. 181, 1976
32. U. Lindborg, "Observations on the Growth of Whisker Crystals from Zinc Electroplate", Metallurgical Transactions A - Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 1581-1586, August 1975
33. P.L. Key, "Surface Morphology of Whisker Crystals of Tin, Zinc and Cadmium," IEEE Electronic Components Conference, pp. 155-157, May, 1970 or 1977

Silver (Ag) Whiskers

1. "Degradation of Power Contacts in Industrial Atmosphere: Silver Corrosion and Whiskers", B. Chudnovsky (Square D Corporation), 48th IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts 2002, pp 140 - 150.

Gold (Au) Whiskers

1. "Gold Whiskers:  Introducing a New Member to the Family", A. Teverovsky, Internal NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Memorandum, April 2003

Cadmium (Cd) Whiskers

1. U. Lindborg, "A Model for the Spontaneous Growth of Zinc, Cadmium, and Tin Whiskers," Acta Metallurgica, vol. 24, p. 181, 1976
2. P.L. Key, "Surface Morphology of Whisker Crystals of Tin, Zinc and Cadmium," IEEE Electronic Components Conference, pp. 155-157, May, 1970 or 1977
3. M.O. Peach, "Mechanism of Growth of Whiskers on Cadmium", Unknown Publisher (only the Letters to the editor at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana), September 11, 1952.

Aluminum (Al) Whiskers

1. "A New Failure Mechanism:  Al-Si Bond Pad Whisker Growth During Life Test", T. Turner and R. Parsons, IEEE Trans. on Components, Hybrids, and Manufacturing Technology, Vol. CHMT-5 No. 4, Dec. 1982

Lead (Pb) Whiskers

1. "Microstucture Evolution and Interfacial Properties in the Fe-Pb System", J.P. Monchoux, E. Rabkin, Acta Materialia 50 (2002), 3159–3174

2. "Inverse AC Josephson Effect in Superconducting In and Pb Whiskers, B. Damaschke, R. Tidecks, Z. Physics B. Condensed Matter 77, 17-23, 1989

3. "Whiskers from the In-Pb System:  Growth, Handling and Characteristic Properties", T. Werner, R. Tidecks, B. Johnston, Journal of Crystal Growth 73 (1985), 467-481

4. "Pb Whisker Growth from Liquid Phase on Pb-Alloy Josephson Device Chips", Y. Takeuchi, K. Fujiwara, Journal of Applied Physics 54 (10), Oct. 1983, 6053-54

5. "Combinations of Third Order Elastic Constants of Pb", B. Powell, M. Skove, Journal of Applied Physics 51 (6), June 1980, 3433-34

6. "Thermal Strain in Pb Thin Films V: Strain Relaxation Above Room Temperature", M. Murakami, T. Kuan, Thin Solid Films 66 (1980), 381-394

7. "Filamentary Crystals Grown from the Solid Metal", G. Sines, Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 15 No. 7, July 1960, 1199-121

Indium (In) Whiskers

1. "Inverse AC Josephson Effect in Superconducting In and Pb Whiskers, B. Damaschke, R. Tidecks, Z. Physics B. Condensed Matter 77, 17-23, 1989

2. "Whiskers from the In-Pb System:  Growth, Handling and Characteristic Properties", T. Werner, R. Tidecks, B. Johnston, Journal of Crystal Growth 73 (1985), 467-481

3. "Filamentary Crystals Grown from the Solid Metal", G. Sines, Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 15 No. 7, July 1960, 1199-121

4. "Some Aspects of Bonding Solder Deterioriation Observed in Long-Lived Semiconductor Lasers: Solder Migration and Whisker Growth", K. Mizuishi, Journal of Applied Physics 55 (2), 15 Jan 1984, 289-95

5. "Reliability and Degradation of Semiconductor Lasers and LEDs", M. Fukuda, 1991 Artech House Inc., Chapters 4 and 9

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