Comparative study of RF MEMS micro-contact materials
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2012
Abstract
A systematic comparison between several pairs of contact materials based on an innovative methodology early developed at NOVA MEMS is hereby presented. The technique exploits a commercial nanoindenter coupled with electrical measurements, and test vehicles specially designed to investigate the underlying physics driving the surface-related failure modes. The study provides a comprehensive understanding of micro-contact behavior with respect to the impact of low-to-medium levels of electrical current. The decrease of the contact resistance, when the contact force increases, is measured for contact pairs of soft material (Au/Au contact), harder materials (Ru/Ru and Rh/Rh contacts), and mixed configuration (Au/Ru and Au/Ni contacts). The contact temperatures have been calculated and compared with the theoretical values of softening temperature for each couple of contact materials. No softening behavior has been observed for mixed contact at the theoretical softening temperature of both materials. The enhanced resilience of the bimetallic contacts Au/Ru and Au/Ni is demonstrated.
- Type
- Research Papers
- Information
- International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , August 2012 , pp. 413 - 420
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2012
References
REFERENCES
- 3
- Cited by