Surface contamination of dielectric materials

It is well known that the insulating pro-properties of dielectrics can be spoiled by contamination with, for example, fingerprints, active solder fluxes and dust. The introduction of printed circuits has extended the list of contaminants to include residual ferric chloride etchant and cleaning agents. In addition, silver migration is now known to be responsible for certain dielectric failures. It was the object of this research to study systematically the matter of surface contamination on dielectric materials.