Electrical stability contact resistance

The problem that remains in all cases is the mechanical and electrical stability of the contact achieved between the metal oxide and the metal. To obtain very stable devices, there must be a good and reliable electrical contact, with a low and stable contact resistance. This is because the metal semiconductor junction that forms at the interface between the metal oxide... 

A new area of concern for electrical stability arises because of the increasing use of conductive adhesives as replacements for solder. Some conductive adhesives show unstable electrical-contact resistance when used on non-noble metal surfaces such as copper or tin-lead solder. Although stable on gold, palladium, platinum, and silver surfaces, the same adhesives were found to be unstable on tin, tin-lead, copper, and nickel surfaces.The unstable resistance and increase in resistance in temperature-humidity exposures have been attributed to the growth of an oxide layer separating the filler particles from the substrate at the interface, a mechanism similar to that for the loss of backside contact in die-attach materials. 

Whereas a maximum number of contact points between PVC grains is desired to achieve mechanical stability, this prevents higher porosities. Typical values for porosity are 30 - 35 percent therefore the electrical resistance is rather high, i.e., 170 mQcm2, despite thin 0.3 mm backwebs for top qualities. As mentioned, the range is very wide — even considerably higher electrical resistances are sometimes acceptable, e.g., in areas where cold crank performance is of no significant importance. 

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