International Business Machines Corporation
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS HAVING TIN WHISKER SENSING AND PREVENTION

Abstract:

An electrical apparatus that includes: an electronic substrate having a plurality of pads for connecting to an electronic component placed on the electronic substrate; a shield placed on a surface of the electronic substrate, the shield having a plurality of openings with the plurality of openings aligned over the plurality of pads and at least a portion of each of the plurality of openings being conductive; connection means to connect the conductive portions of each of the plurality of openings to a fault detect and error handling circuit; and the fault detect and error handling circuit to detect a short circuit between at least one of the conductive portions and the pad aligned with the opening containing the at least one of the conductive portions.