  The potential of NiO sublayers for whisker growth mitigation has been
examined. A thin NiO film was applied on a Cu-coated substrate before the
deposition of a thicker Sn layer. The growth of Sn whiskers was then followed
by optical and scanning electron microscopy and was compared with the whisker
growth on a control sample without the NiO sublayer. No whiskers were observed
on the sample with the NiO layer even after 12 months, whereas the control
sample developed whiskers of size and density that is generally expected, based
on the vast amount of published work on the topic. The mechanisms of whisker
growth and whisker growth suppression are briefly discussed as well.
