Strengthening gold thin films with zirconia nanoparticles for MEMS electrical contacts
✍ Scribed by Jesse R. Williams; David R. Clarke
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2008
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 804 KB
- Volume
- 56
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1359-6454
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✦ Synopsis
Thin gold films can be strengthened by the incorporation, during reactive sputtering, of nanosized dispersions of monoclinic zirconia. Micron-thick films containing $2 vol.% zirconia particles having a particle size of 1-3 nm are found to have an indentation hardness of 3.8 GPa after annealing for 60 h at 500 °C in air. Sputtered gold films of the same thickness and annealed under the same conditions had a hardness of 2.3 GPa. The nanoparticles of zirconia resist coarsening with no change in diameter between deposition and after 60 h at 500 °C. They also suppress grain growth of the gold grains. The electrical resistivity of the strengthened gold films was 4.5 lX cm, about 55% higher than gold films. The temperature coefficient of resistivity was unaffected.