An Analysis of Scale Dependent and Quantum Effects on Electrical Contact Resistance between Rough Surfaces

Jackson, Robert L.; Crandall, Erika R.; Bozack, Michael J.

doi:10.1109/holm.2012.6336575

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…When two rough surfaces are squeezed together contact is made through individual asperities with contact patches that can extend in size down to the nanoscale. These contact junctions exhibit electrical and mechanical properties that may diverge from bulk properties (Jackson et al 2012). Current flowing through rough interfaces is scattered across many contacting asperities with electronic transport involving multiple mechanisms, including quantum tunneling (Yanson et al 1998;Foley et al 1999;Agraıt et al 2003), Sharvin contact (Sharvin 1965), and Holm contact (Holm and Holm 1967), depending on the size of contacting junctions and the mean free path of electrons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress-Dependent Electrical Contact Resistance at Fractal Rough Surfaces

et al. 2017

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The electrical contact resistance between contacting rough surfaces was studied under various compressive stresses. The samples considered here were isotropically roughened aluminium disks with upper and lower surfaces modified through polishing and sand blasting using different sized glass beads. Fractal geometry and roughness descriptors, including root mean square values of roughness and slope, were used to describe the topography of sample surfaces, based on the digitized profiles obtained from interferometry-based profilometry. The electrical contact resistances at the interfaces were obtained by applying a controlled current and measuring the resulting voltage, through the following scenarios: (1) over time for various applied testing currents, the resistance relaxation curves were measured at constant loads; (2) through voltage-current characteristics by means of a logarithmic sweeping current, the influence of the testing current on the electrical response of contacting rough surfaces was evaluated; and (3) for a given testing current, the electrical resistance through interfaces of different surface structures was measured under increasing compressive stresses. The experimental results show that the measured resistance depends closely on the measurement time, testing current, surface topology, and mechanical loading. At stresses from 0.03 to 1.18 MPa, the electrical resistance as a function of applied normal stress is found to follow a power law relation, the exponent of which is closely linked to the surface topology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress-Dependent Electrical Contact Resistance at Fractal Rough Surfaces

et al. 2017

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“…quantum). The method of Wexler [32] as described in Timsit [15] and Jackson et al [14] are used to consider this (these results are labeled as 'Scale Dep.' in Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it should be noted that in the current work the scale effect in the multiscale model is considered on the final results using Eqs. (19 and 22), while in [14], the scale effect is included at each scale of roughness iterively. For contact resistance, the quantitative comparison is not as good between the FEM and multiscale model as with the contact area.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is known that as the scale decreases, that the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of the asperity material can change from the bulk properties at large scales. Although as some recent work has shown, these scale dependent effects may not always be influential on electrical and thermal contact resistance [7,8,10,[13][14][15]. As discussed in section 2, the multi-scale model is an iterative method that calculates area and resistance for each particular scale.…”

Section: Contact Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

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A Comparison of the Predictions of a Finite Element Model and Multiscale Model for a Rough MEMS Electrical Contact

Jackson

Liu

Leray

2013

2013 IEEE 59th Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Holm 2013)

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Rough surface contact is difficult to model effectively due to multiple scales of detail that need to be considered. This work presents the results of a multiscale rough surface contact model in comparison to a finite element based deterministic model for the electrical contact of a MEMS microswitch. The real area of contact and electrical contact resistance are predicted and compared as a function of normal load. The results show good quantitative and qualitative correlation between the two methods.As expected, the contact area increases nominally linearly with load, while the contact resistance decreases with load. It is notable though that the contact pressure is up to 16% higher than the hardness (2.8 times yield strength), and could be even higher for other surfaces.

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“…To investigate the quantum and size dependent contact mechanisms of the asperity sizes on typical surfaces, Jackson et alexamined the effect of scale dependent mechanical and electrical properties on electrical contact resistance between rough surfaces. 31 Beginning with classical contact mechanics, they used established multiscale models for perfectly elastic and elastic-plastic contacts for the purpose of predicting electrical contact resistance between surfaces with multiple scales of roughness. They then examined scale dependent strength of the materials tin (Sn) and gold (Au) and found that the yield strength varies by over two orders of magnitude as the contact diameter changes.…”

Section: Micro-contact Resistance Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of micro-contact physics for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) metal contact switches

Toler

Coutu

McBride

2013

J. Micromech. Microeng.

110

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Innovations in relevant micro-contact areas are highlighted, these include, design, contact resistance modeling, contact materials, performance and reliability. For each area the basic theory and relevant innovations are explored. A brief comparison of actuation methods is provided to show why electrostatic actuation is most commonly used by radio frequency microelectromechanical systems designers. An examination of the important characteristics of the contact interface such as modeling and material choice is discussed. Micro-contact resistance models based on plastic, elastic-plastic and elastic deformations are reviewed. Much of the modeling for metal contact micro-switches centers around contact area and surface roughness. Surface roughness and its effect on contact area is stressed when considering micro-contact resistance modeling. Finite element models and various approaches for describing surface roughness are compared. Different contact materials to include gold, gold alloys, carbon nanotubes, composite gold-carbon nanotubes, ruthenium, ruthenium oxide, as well as tungsten have been shown to enhance contact performance and reliability with distinct trade offs for each. Finally, a review of physical and electrical failure modes witnessed by researchers are detailed and examined.

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An Analysis of Scale Dependent and Quantum Effects on Electrical Contact Resistance between Rough Surfaces

Cited by 8 publications

References 38 publications

Stress-Dependent Electrical Contact Resistance at Fractal Rough Surfaces

Stress-Dependent Electrical Contact Resistance at Fractal Rough Surfaces

A Comparison of the Predictions of a Finite Element Model and Multiscale Model for a Rough MEMS Electrical Contact

A review of micro-contact physics for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) metal contact switches

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