Direct TEM observation of the welding of asperities between two single crystal gold films

Author

Chan, Siu-Wai

Author_Institution

Bell Commun. Res., Red Bank, NJ, USA

fYear

1988

fDate

26-29 Sept. 1988

Firstpage

193

Lastpage

198

Abstract

The information of grain boundaries between two gold films in contact was directly observed on a hot stage in a transmission electron microscope at a temperature that was less than 0.4 of the gold melting point. This is believed to be the first direct evidence of metal-to-metal welding by the formation of grain boundaries at touching asperities. These welds can contribute to the frictional force of a sliding contact because grain boundaries of pure metals have the same mechanical strength as the bulk of the material. In addition, shear deformation of these joined asperities can contribute to the adhesive wear in sliding. This would be relevant to the gold alloys used in electrical sliding contacts. The experimental results are reported in detail.<>

Keywords

electrical contacts; friction; gold; grain boundaries; materials testing; metallic thin films; transmission electron microscope examination of materials; wear; Au-Au contacts; adhesion; adhesive wear; direct TEM observation; electrical sliding contacts; experimental results; formation of grain boundaries; frictional force; hot stage; mechanical strength; metal-to-metal welding; pure metals; shear deformation; single-crystal Au films; sliding contact; transmission electron microscope; two single crystal gold films; welding of asperities; Adhesives; Contacts; Friction; Gold alloys; Goniometers; Grain boundaries; Substrates; Temperature; Transmission electron microscopy; Welding;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Contacts, 1988., Proceedings of the Thirty Fourth Meeting of the IEEE Holm Conference on

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HOLM.1988.16116

Filename

16116