Humidity Build-Up in a Typical Electronic Enclosure Exposed to Cycling Conditions and Effect on Corrosion Reliability

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The design of electronic device enclosures plays a major role in determining the humidity build-up inside the device as a response to the varying external humidity. Therefore, the corrosion reliability of electronic devices has direct connection to the enclosure design. This paper describes the internal humidity build-up in a typical enclosure prescribed for electronic applications as a function of external humidity conditions and enclosure-related parameters. Investigated parameters include external temperature and humidity conditions, the temperature and time of the internal heating cycle, thermal mass, and port/opening size. The effect of the internal humidity build-up on corrosion reliability has been evaluated by measuring the leakage current (LC) on interdigitated test comb patterns, which are precontaminated with sodium chloride and placed inside the enclosure. The results showed that the exposure to cycling temperature causes significant change of internal water vapor concentration. The maximum value of humidity reached was a function of the opening size and the presence of thermal mass inside the enclosure. A pumping effect was observed due to cycling temperature, and the increase in the level of absolute humidity at each cycle led to condensation, which caused a sudden increase in LC.