Tin in solder or some other meals can form spiky crystals when under stress. These whiskers can form short circuits if not properly insulated or not alloyed with other metals.
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
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This can happen inside ICs and has been a known failure mode for high frequency processors for many years. I work in chip design, and we use software tools to simulate it. It's called electromigration.
Electromigration is not the same as metal whiskering.
This is like saying an SUV isn't a car.
OP: Look at my car
Me: I have one too. It's an SUV
You: SUV's aren't cars.
If you understand "car" as "hardware degradation" there is something to it, despite calling it "electromigration".
You said it (= whiskers) can be simulated and that it's called electromigration. From what I understood, this statement is wrong, since they are both different in both cause and effect. Metal whiskering can be simulated to a certain extent, yes. But that's vastly different to what electromigration is and how it works.
You got a degree in semi conductor physics? Lol
Like i told the other guy, you're being pedantic. Engineers will call all these things whiskers. And I just mentioned I deal with one of them in my work. I'm not saying the photo in the thumbnail is an example of electromigration.
Man, that "lol" really annoys me and comes accross condescending. If you've got no arguments, there is no need for an academic dick measuring contest. You can just leave it. To answer your question:
In parts, yes. Not my specialisation though, but enough to be able to distinguish electromigration from whiskering.
Being pedantic is part of the job of an engineer. I'm an engineer working in research. I don't call electromigration "metal whiskering" or vice versa.
Besides, as I've mentioned, it wouldn't even be pedantic to distinguish them that way as the differences are not miniscule. They are formed differently and look differently.
Yes, to the post which is titled "TIL computers can sometimes grow crystals" you said:
Which is still wrong. We can observe electromigration in ICs, or in metallic conductors in general, but this is a different phenomenon than whiskering, which can look like those crystals while conductors affected by electromigration form voids and protrusions out of material build-ups which usually can't even be seen by the bare eye.
But maybe that was a misleading expression and you didn't mean to equate those two.
Appeals to authority are not a good look
From where do the gentleman's statement gain their credibility. Site your sources, please. We are having an argument on the internet folks, the consequences are dire.
This is Saturday night and this is staring to remind me of Monday morning meetings.
Have an nice weekend.
Why is it an argument at all? Why can't it be just as a constructive discussion where people learn from each other, and have fun with new ideas