The effect on switching lifetime of chromium adhesion layers in gold-coated electrical contacts under cold and hot switching conditions
The effect on switching lifetime of chromium adhesion layers in gold-coated electrical contacts under cold and hot switching conditions
Gold is commonly used for electrical contacts due to its many desirable electrical and mechanical properties. Throughout the switch lifetime, the contacts are required to survive a large number of opening and closing cycles and therefore it is important to understand the failure mechanisms. Adhesion layers (e.g. chromium or titanium) can be deposited to increase the adhesion of the gold layer to the contact surface. In this work, the inclusion of a chromium adhesion layer shows an improvement of the switching lifetime of gold-coated electrical contacts under cold and hot switching conditions. These testing conditions further the understanding of the failure mechanisms (e.g. fine transfer, etc.). The mechanism of failure when no chromium adhesion layer was used is attributed to delamination of the gold layer from one contact to the other. This failure mechanism is different in the cases where a chromium adhesion layer is included. We present a model which was developed in line with experimental results. These describe the effect of load current on material transfer between gold contacts and the contact failure.
electrical contacts switching lifetime, adhesion layers, failure mechanisms, modelling failure
Lewis, Adam
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Down, M.P
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Spearing, S.M.
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Jiang, Liudi
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Chianrabutra, Chamaporn
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McBride, J.W.
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22 September 2013
Lewis, Adam
92717168-ccc3-4540-8150-6e42198ae454
Down, M.P
f5d0d5c5-ad95-4e3f-a9b3-d9968d1f0da6
Spearing, S.M.
9e56a7b3-e0e8-47b1-a6b4-db676ed3c17a
Jiang, Liudi
374f2414-51f0-418f-a316-e7db0d6dc4d1
Chianrabutra, Chamaporn
f09c1da6-370e-43ac-b9bb-5283633ebadb
McBride, J.W.
d9429c29-9361-4747-9ba3-376297cb8770
Lewis, Adam, Down, M.P, Spearing, S.M., Jiang, Liudi, Chianrabutra, Chamaporn and McBride, J.W.
(2013)
The effect on switching lifetime of chromium adhesion layers in gold-coated electrical contacts under cold and hot switching conditions.
59th IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts, Newport, United States.
22 - 25 Sep 2013.
7 pp
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Gold is commonly used for electrical contacts due to its many desirable electrical and mechanical properties. Throughout the switch lifetime, the contacts are required to survive a large number of opening and closing cycles and therefore it is important to understand the failure mechanisms. Adhesion layers (e.g. chromium or titanium) can be deposited to increase the adhesion of the gold layer to the contact surface. In this work, the inclusion of a chromium adhesion layer shows an improvement of the switching lifetime of gold-coated electrical contacts under cold and hot switching conditions. These testing conditions further the understanding of the failure mechanisms (e.g. fine transfer, etc.). The mechanism of failure when no chromium adhesion layer was used is attributed to delamination of the gold layer from one contact to the other. This failure mechanism is different in the cases where a chromium adhesion layer is included. We present a model which was developed in line with experimental results. These describe the effect of load current on material transfer between gold contacts and the contact failure.
Text
Holm_2013 AP_Lewis.pdf
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More information
Published date: 22 September 2013
Venue - Dates:
59th IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts, Newport, United States, 2013-09-22 - 2013-09-25
Keywords:
electrical contacts switching lifetime, adhesion layers, failure mechanisms, modelling failure
Organisations:
Engineering Science Unit
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 358452
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/358452
PURE UUID: 980db7cf-4ba4-4ba9-b6f7-2a3ff94391ef
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Date deposited: 09 Oct 2013 09:59
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
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Contributors
Author:
Adam Lewis
Author:
M.P Down
Author:
Chamaporn Chianrabutra
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