Journal ArticleDOI
Influence of physical/chemical characteristics of organic vapors and gas mixtures on their contact compatibility
TLDR
In this paper, the contact compatibility of an organic vapor in combination with a certain contact material depends mainly on its chemical structure and its volatility, volatility, the basic structure type of the molecule (e.g., aromatic or aliphatic, length of the carbon chain), certain active groups on the other hand.Abstract:
The formation of carbon on the contact surfaces of commercial relays by thermal decomposition of organic vapors emanating from various organic materials may cause an undesirable increase of the contact resistance in the range of several Ohms. Previous investigations revealed that the contact compatibility of an organic vapor in combination with a certain contact material depends mainly on its chemical structure. There are additional correlations between the contact compatibility on the one hand and a few parameters of the vapors like volatility, the basic structure type of the molecule (e.g., aromatic or aliphatic, length of the carbon chain), certain active groups on the other hand. The contact compatibility values of a few mixtures of organic vapors investigated corresponded to those of their individual components. Humidity and oxygen concentration of the atmosphere influenced the phenomenon effectively.read more
Citations
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Proceedings ArticleDOI
Metal contact reliability of RF MEMS switches
TL;DR: In this article, a collapsing switch capable of generating large contact forces (>300μN) was shown to be less vulnerable to contamination and stiction than a simple reed switch.
Journal ArticleDOI
Design, fabrication, performance and reliability of Pt- and RuO2-coated microrelays tested in ultra-high purity gas environments
TL;DR: In this article, the reliability of Pt-and RuO2-coated ohmic relays in ultra-high purity gas environments was evaluated using a self-aligned shadow mask that provides electrical isolation between different traces.
Journal ArticleDOI
The role of creep in the time-dependent resistance of Ohmic gold contacts in radio frequency microelectromechanical system devices
O. Rezvanian,Christopher S. Brown,Mohammed A. Zikry,Angus I. Kingon,Jacqueline Krim,Douglas L. Irving,Donald W. Brenner +6 more
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that measured and calculated time-dependent electrical resistances of closed gold Ohmic switches in radio frequency microelectromechanical system (RF-MEMS) devices are well described by a power law that can be derived from a single asperity creep model.
Journal ArticleDOI
Electrical Contact Resistance and Device Lifetime Measurements of Au-RuO 2 -Based RF MEMS Exposed to Hydrocarbons in Vacuum and Nitrogen Environments
TL;DR: In this paper, electrical contact resistance (ECR) measurements are reported for RF micro-electromechanical switches with Au-RuO2 contacts, situated within an ultrahigh vacuum system equipped with in situ oxygen plasma cleaning capabilities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Impact of adsorbed organic monolayers on vacuum electron tunneling contributions to electrical resistance at an asperity contact
Abstract: Electrical contact resistance measurements are reported for RF micro-electromechanical switches situated within an ultrahigh vacuum system equipped with in situ oxygen plasma cleaning capabilities. Measurements were performed on fused (permanently adhered) switches with Au/Au contacts and functioning switches with Au/RuO2 contacts in both the presence and absence of adsorbed monolayers of pentane and dodecane. For switches adhered in the closed position, adsorption occurs only in regions external to direct contact. For functioning switches, however, it can occur either within or exterior to the contact. The data are analyzed within the framework of two distinct geometries, to explore how the presence of adsorbed molecules in regions close to the contact may impact vacuum tunneling contributions to the experimentally measured resistance: (1) The resistance associated with direct contact in parallel with a vacuum tunneling path, which upon uptake of the monolayer is replaced by the molecular resistance and (2) a series connection of the direct contact resistance with the molecular layer after adsorption occurs, with the vacuum tunneling path assumed to be negligible. In all cases, the experimental results quantitatively favor scenario (1), whereby uptake of the molecular layer effectively shuts down the vacuum tunneling path, in this case approximately 30 Ω in the absence of an adsorbed film. The methods described herein thus constitute a new and original approach to documenting vacuum tunneling levels in regions of close proximity.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Activation of electrical contacts by organic vapors
L. H. Germer,J. L. Smith +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that carbon from decomposition of organic vapors greatly alters the conditions under which an electric arc can be initiated and can be sustained, and that for many circuit conditions contacts activated by this carbon cannot be protected against severe arcing by any conventional capacitance-resistance network.
Journal ArticleDOI
Arcing at Electrical Contacts on Closure. Part IV. Activation of Contacts by Organic Vapor
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the time available for adsorption between successive arcs is equally important, so that the minimum vapor pressure for activation to occur is inversely proportional to the effective contact area with the available energy.
Journal ArticleDOI
Electrical characteristics of various contact contaminations
C.N. Neufeld,W.F. Rieder +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, contact reliability may be endangered by various types of contact contaminations such as particles, corrosion products, polymers or carbon deposits, and information about the type of contamination may be gained by easily applicable measurements of current and contact voltage only: i.e., contact resistance measurements after each operation of a routine life test, and voltage oscillograms across opening contacts.
Journal ArticleDOI
Relay life tests with contact resistance measurement after each operation
W. Rieder,T.W. Strof +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a test device was developed to execute these measurements and a special method was applied to reduce the resulting amount of data effectively without losing information, and the characteristics of contact resistance were investigated at intermediate and low power levels.
Journal ArticleDOI
A reliability study of relay suitable for surface mount process using high-temperature-resistant plastics
M. Ohba,K. Kuzukawa,K. Ozawa +2 more
TL;DR: The behavior of gas emissions generated from plastic materials with high resistance to heat was studied by gas chromatography and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry as mentioned in this paper, and the results show the effects of these gas emissions on contact reliability and suggest appropriate means for reducing such emissions.
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