Gold is being employed as a contact metal in cell phone microswitches due to its chemical inertness and attractive electrical properties. However, pure gold is mechanically soft and is therefore susceptible to failure by cold welding and wear. To explore alternatives to the use of pure gold in radio frequency micromechanical switches, we have measured changes in the electrical resistivity and nanoindentation hardness of a series of Au-V and Au-V2O5 thin films. These films are produced by sputter deposition in an atmosphere of Ar and O2. Increasing V content in the Au-V alloys increases resistivity and hardness consistent with solid solution strengthening. In the Au-V2O5 films, the increase in resistivity is greatly reduced and the hardness is further increased as expected for dispersion strengthening with V2O5 particles.
These two phenomena are explained in terms of solute and particle effects on electron scattering and bowing of dislocations, respectively.


Dr. Vinci’s Bio
Dr. Vinci joined the Lehigh University faculty in 1998, and serves as Director of the Mechanical Behavior Lab in the Materials Research Center. His current research is focused on the processing and mechanical behavior of thin films for microelectronics and MEMS applications. He is also interested in multidisciplinary research, including the development of novel glass substrates for DNA array chips.  He holds BS in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT and  MS and PhD in  Materials Science & Engineering from Stanford University.
 

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