The investigation of electrical contacts using newly designed nano-indentation manipulator in scanning electron microscope

Development and Application of a Multifunctional Nanoindenter: Coupling to Electrical Measurements and Integration In-Situ in a Scanning Electron Microscope

“…14). This observation is in agreement with [11] and [13] on the Al2O3/Al and SnO2/Sn systems, respectively. However the behavior observed at low voltages (i.e.…”

“…The electro-mechanical behavior of two metals in contact often faces the presence of an oxide layer at their interface. Thus, the control of the electrical degradation of this oxide under a mechanical stress is critical [11,13]. The present set-up opens to the quantitative analysis of current leakage and/or breakdown phenomena.…”

“…The development of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) triggered the experimental study of these phenomena at small-scale [3,4,5], but only the coupling of electrical measurements with instrumented indentation (independent load and displacement measurements) provided the precise control and monitoring of both contact mechanics and electrical conduction [6]. Initiated by the monitoring of phase transformation under pressure [7,8,9], resistive-indentation has then been extended to the study of other phenomena: native oxide fracture [10,11,12,13], MEMS operation at small scales [14,15] and contact area computation during nanoindentation tests [16,17]. In the past decades, numerous efforts have been made to further expand the capabilities of nanoindentation [6]: real-time imaging [18,19], coupling with multifunctional characterisation tools [20,21], high temperature measurements [22],...…”

Contact resistance of Sn-film and Sn-bulk investigated by microscopic analysis

“…Holm proposed when two surfaces are contacted, the brittle oxide film fractured easily by plastic deformation of the parent metal and yield metallic contact spots. Recently, Shimizu et al made micrometer indentations on the well-defined Sn/SnO 2 surface and succeeded to observe fissures and pressed-out metal by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) [3]. Therefore, we considered metallic spots dominate the current flow even though the oxide film exists, and assumed R c as the total contact resistance.…”