Summary:

NASA/CAVE3’s 2018 presentation “RT-190: Reliability of Silver Wire Bonds in Harsh Environments” examines how silver (Ag) bonding wire performs in defense and vehicle-grade electronics exposed to heat, vibration, humidity, and electrical stress. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile RDEC and OUSD(SE), it frames Ag as a candidate interconnect where cost and conductivity matter.

The document highlights the bond-pad/interface stack (e.g., aluminum pads in QFN packages) as a reliability driver and compiles prior studies on corrosion and intermetallic formation that can degrade Ag bonds under harsh conditions. Packaging choices—pads, molding compounds, and process controls—are presented as levers to harden Ag bonds for mission environments.

By surveying results from industry and IEEE venues (e.g., EPTC 2009; ECTC 2015) and defining an Army-backed research program window (2017–2018), the work positions silver wire as a lower-cost, high-conductivity alternative to gold, provided material stacks and manufacturing parameters are optimized for long-life reliability.