Corrosion behaviour of sintered silver under maritime environmental conditions

One of the most critical influences of long-term reliability of electronic applications is corrosion. However, corrosion is not considered in accelerated testing, mostly. In particular power electronics applications, for example offshore wind power systems, are exposed to the harshest of environmental conditions. For these applications, highly reliable die attach technology is absolutely essential. One of the most promising technologies is the sinter silver technology. This paper gives an overview of corrosion behaviour of sintered silver under harsh environmental conditions. Investigations are performed on the influence of different pressures of the sinter atmosphere on the corrosion behaviour. To characterize corrosion issues of sintered silver, various electrochemical and analytical methods are used.