Anodic Gold corrosion in plastic encapsulated devices

Experimental results of Gold metallization failures in semiconductor devices due to the corrosion of Gold in the absence of a complexing medium or contaminants are reported. In particular, we show the corrosion of anodically biased lines which was observed on unpassivated plastic encapsulated high-frequency transistors and on passivated linear integrated circuits operating at 85°C, 85% R.H., for a few thousend hours.