Electromechanical investigation into the influence of MWCNT height on the performance of Au/MWCNT composites for electrical contacts
Electromechanical investigation into the influence of MWCNT height on the performance of Au/MWCNT composites for electrical contacts
Au/MWCNT composites have been shown to be a useful contact material for electrical contacts. In this work we have investigated the influence of the MWCNT forest height on both the electrical and mechanical properties. Three heights of MWCNT forest have been investigated (30, 50 and 80 ?m, all a sputtered 500 nm Au layer). It is shown that the electrical and mechanical behavior of the 30 and 50 ?m composites is quite comparable, whereas there is a large change in the performance where the height is increased to 80 ?m. As the MWCNT height is increased the effective hardness of the composite reduces which means that for a given contact pressure, the resultant contact area will be larger for taller MWCNT forests. A larger area combined with a higher resilience to impact is expected to result in larger lifetimes. A consequence of the softer composite with larger contact area is that the molten-metal bridge phenomenon has been shown to increase with MWCNT height. Experimental data is discussed to identify the optimum MWCNT height where the sputtered Au thickness is 500 nm. By analyzing the Au:MWCNT thickness ratio, it is possible to infer the optimum value for other thickness of Au. Combining this data with our model, it is also possible to estimate optimum thicknesses with other contact materials.
Au/MWCNT composites, electrical contacts, electromechanical characterization, MEMS switching, Ag-C, MWCNT forest height, MWCNT height, contact pressure, effective hardness, electrical properties, electromechanical investigation, mechanical properties, molten-metal bridge phenomenon, resultant contact area, size 500 nm, softer composite, sputtered Au thickness, bridge circuits, contacts, gold, loading, mechanical factors, switches, switching circuits, composite materials, hardness, multi-wall carbon nanotubes, silver
376-380
Lewis, Adam
92717168-ccc3-4540-8150-6e42198ae454
Down, Michael
b3bc4b98-ad16-47c3-b411-575696a5da0f
Liu, Hong
e8808574-7eb8-459e-9539-110a1f76e117
Jiang, Liudi
374f2414-51f0-418f-a316-e7db0d6dc4d1
McBride, John
d9429c29-9361-4747-9ba3-376297cb8770
October 2015
Lewis, Adam
92717168-ccc3-4540-8150-6e42198ae454
Down, Michael
b3bc4b98-ad16-47c3-b411-575696a5da0f
Liu, Hong
e8808574-7eb8-459e-9539-110a1f76e117
Jiang, Liudi
374f2414-51f0-418f-a316-e7db0d6dc4d1
McBride, John
d9429c29-9361-4747-9ba3-376297cb8770
Lewis, Adam, Down, Michael, Liu, Hong, Jiang, Liudi and McBride, John
(2015)
Electromechanical investigation into the influence of MWCNT height on the performance of Au/MWCNT composites for electrical contacts.
2015 IEEE 61st Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Holm), San Diego, United States.
11 - 14 Oct 2015.
.
(doi:10.1109/holm.2015.7355124).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Au/MWCNT composites have been shown to be a useful contact material for electrical contacts. In this work we have investigated the influence of the MWCNT forest height on both the electrical and mechanical properties. Three heights of MWCNT forest have been investigated (30, 50 and 80 ?m, all a sputtered 500 nm Au layer). It is shown that the electrical and mechanical behavior of the 30 and 50 ?m composites is quite comparable, whereas there is a large change in the performance where the height is increased to 80 ?m. As the MWCNT height is increased the effective hardness of the composite reduces which means that for a given contact pressure, the resultant contact area will be larger for taller MWCNT forests. A larger area combined with a higher resilience to impact is expected to result in larger lifetimes. A consequence of the softer composite with larger contact area is that the molten-metal bridge phenomenon has been shown to increase with MWCNT height. Experimental data is discussed to identify the optimum MWCNT height where the sputtered Au thickness is 500 nm. By analyzing the Au:MWCNT thickness ratio, it is possible to infer the optimum value for other thickness of Au. Combining this data with our model, it is also possible to estimate optimum thicknesses with other contact materials.
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Published date: October 2015
Venue - Dates:
2015 IEEE 61st Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Holm), San Diego, United States, 2015-10-11 - 2015-10-14
Keywords:
Au/MWCNT composites, electrical contacts, electromechanical characterization, MEMS switching, Ag-C, MWCNT forest height, MWCNT height, contact pressure, effective hardness, electrical properties, electromechanical investigation, mechanical properties, molten-metal bridge phenomenon, resultant contact area, size 500 nm, softer composite, sputtered Au thickness, bridge circuits, contacts, gold, loading, mechanical factors, switches, switching circuits, composite materials, hardness, multi-wall carbon nanotubes, silver
Organisations:
Mechatronics
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 389716
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/389716
PURE UUID: 53bb776d-f101-48b1-a52a-5b92c91e3973
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Date deposited: 11 Mar 2016 16:32
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
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Contributors
Author:
Adam Lewis
Author:
Michael Down
Author:
Hong Liu
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