The investigation of electrical contacts using newly designed nano-indentation manipulator in scanning electron microscope
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Shimizu, Tetsuo; Horie, Tomoyuki; Watanabe, Norimichi; Miyawaki, Jun; Fujii, Shunjiro; Yamagata, Yoshinori; Kondo, Takaya; Onuma, Masanori
- Source
- 2014 IEEE 60th Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts (Holm) Electrical Contacts (Holm), 2014 IEEE 60th Holm Conference on. :1-4 Oct, 2014
- Subject
- Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Engineering Profession
General Topics for Engineers
Power, Energy and Industry Applications
Signal Processing and Analysis
Transportation
Tin
Scanning electron microscopy
Resistance
Contacts
Force
Manipulators
electrical contact
nano-indentation manipulator
scanning electron microscope
focused ion beam
- Language
- ISSN
- 1062-6808
2158-9992
Nano-indentation manipulator operated in SEM was constructed in order to investigate the electrical contacts on a nanometer scale. Then it is simultaneously possible to observe and control indentation movement and to measure the load force and electrical resistance. Particularly in order to investigate the influence of thick oxide layer on the electrical resistance during indentation, a tin substrate covered with thick tin oxide layer was indented by a tungsten probe. Electrical resistance, measured as a function of indentation depth and load force, drastically decreased in the region where concentric circular and radial cracks and tin penetration in the cracks were found. Resistance decrease was strongly related to the tin appearance on the surface through cracks. The results indicate that the nano-indentation manipulator is powerful tool for the nanometer scale research on electrical contacts.