Hello TechNet,

I have a problem on a Interfet 2N6550 JFET; specifically the component (TO-52) failed the moisture test having >5000 ppmv. The average value was around 10,000. We purchase these devices at a commercial level and then "up-screen" to a JANS level. I know, this is a terrible idea, but there are no JANS qualified manufacturers for this device and the designers insisted on using it. This is for space flight applications, and I have 500 components.

We are debating mitigation strategies and came up with one that would involve puncturing the can, baking out the components in a nitrogen purged vacuum chamber, and re-sealing the can with a tiny amount of low outgassing epoxy. Is this too pie in the sky, or is there actually a known procedure to do something like this? I might have watched The Martian a few too many times, but I am getting desperate for a solution!

Thanks!

Howard A. Watson
__________________________________________
Intelligence & Space Research Division
Los Alamos National Laboratory
30 Bikini Atoll Road
Los Alamos, NM 87545
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