NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Electrostatic Attraction

Purpose

What is the probability of two tin whiskers, one growing from one surface and a second growing from another, contacting to create a shorting condition?
This experiment is to explore the attraction an electrical field applies to a flexible wire or whisker.
A whisker growing from a conductive plate at 50V may be attracted towards a whisker growing from a grounded plate, such that they may contact each other and short.

Results

A tin whisker was made to bend in reaction to the field, the videotape and the photos will be available soon on line.

Previous slide Next slide Back to first slide View graphic version

Responsible NASA Officials:

   Michael Sampson/NASA GSFC Code 306
   Dr. Henning Leidecker/NASA GSFC Code 562		 Additional Researchers: 

   Jong Kadesch/Orbital Sciences Corp.
   Jay Brusse/QSS Group, Inc.

Last Updated:

April 20, 2005

DISCLAIMER:
This website provides information about tin whiskers and related research. The independent research performed during the past 50+ years is so vast that it is impractical to cover all aspects of tin whiskers in this one resource. Therefore, the absence of information in this website about a particular aspect of tin whiskers should NOT be construed as evidence of absence.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. For technical references posted herein, copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

SECURITY BANNER