Title :
Conducting AFM studies of metal surface contact resistance for NEMS switches
Author :
Chappanda, Karumbaiah N. ; Tabib-Azar, Massood
Author_Institution :
ECE, Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Abstract :
Surface contact resistances of 12 electronic metals on tungsten used as structural metal were studied. Ultra Sharp conductive Si AFM tip was used to measure current versus voltage (I-V) characteristics as well as for imaging the change in the metal surface morphology after subsequent I-Vs. The structural metal was DC sputtered and the electronic metals for improving the contact resistance were deposited by lift-off technique. The change in the contact resistance and surface morphology due to anodic oxidation and/or alloying and other effects were studied using the AFM imaging as well as studying the I-Vs. This is the first study showing the evolution of surface morphology and electrical properties as a function of switching cycles.
Keywords :
anodisation; atomic force microscopy; contact resistance; electric current measurement; nanoelectromechanical devices; sputtering; surface morphology; surface resistance; switches; voltage measurement; AFM imaging; DC sputtering; NEMS switch; anodic oxidation; current-voltage characteristic measurement; electrical property; electronic metal; lift-off technique; metal surface contact resistance; metal surface morphology; structural metal; surface morphology; switching cycle; ultra sharp conductive AFM tip; Contact resistance; Copper; Morphology; Nanoelectromechanical systems; Surface morphology; Surface resistance;
Conference_Titel :
Sensors, 2011 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Limerick
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-9290-9
DOI :
10.1109/ICSENS.2011.6127270
