A study is reported of the growth of “dendrite-like” structures on deliberately contaminated metallized substrates under humid conditions. The metallized substrates consisted of two copper conducting lines deposited on a-alumina, and were contaminated with controlled amounts of cupric chloride. In order to assess the effects of the contaminant, the water up-take characteristics of the unmetallized substrate were determined on both clean and contaminated c-alumina as a function of relative humidity. In addition, the effects of contamination on dendrite-like growth was investigated in experiments where a 30V bias was applied across the conducting lines. The resulting growth patterns follow the irregularities of the substrate and are quite different from classical dendrites grown in bulk solutions.

Subject
Humidity, Water, Contamination, Salts, Substrates, Bulk solution, Contaminants, Substrate surfaces, Mechanical failure, Copper, Relative humidity, Electrolytes, Water adsorption
© 1988 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1988
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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