Metallurgical analysis of electrical breakdown for Cu-Te system contact materials in vacuum

Author

Qiu, Chengfeng ; Wei, Shiping ; Yang, Zhimao ; Zhang, Jingchao ; Ding, Bingjun ; Wang, Xiaotian

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mater. Sci. & Eng., Xi´´an Jiaotong Univ., China

fYear

1992

fDate

18-21 Oct. 1992

Firstpage

35

Lastpage

38

Abstract

Cu-Te contact materials with different compositions and microstructures are investigated for their difference in breakdown field strength by connecting a 6-kV DC voltage source to a vacuum gap. The influence of Se, Te and Fe (which are doped during metallurgical processes) on breakdown behavior is discussed. It is found that when the number of breakdowns increase, the voltage stress of CuTe, CuTeSe, and CuTeSeFe alloys should increase and the Te content on the surfaces of all alloys is reduced. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and composition analysis show that the initial breakdowns occur for low-melting components, such as Cu/sub 2/Te, Cu/sub 2/Se, and Cu/sub 2/(Te, Se). The voltage withstand stress of low-melting components determines the breakdown of alloys.<>

Keywords

Auger effect; copper alloys; crystal microstructure; electric breakdown of solids; electric strength; electrical contacts; scanning electron microscope examination of materials; selenium alloys; surface structure; tellurium alloys; 6 kV; Auger energy spectrum; CuTe; CuTeSe; CuTeSeFe alloys; DC voltage source; SEM; breakdown field strength; composition analysis; contact materials; low-melting components; metallurgical processes; microstructures; scanning electron microscopy; surface composition; vacuum gap; voltage withstand stress; Breakdown voltage; Composite materials; Contacts; Electric breakdown; Joining processes; Microstructure; Scanning electron microscopy; Stress; Tellurium; Vacuum breakdown;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Contacts, 1992., Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth IEEE Holm Conference on

Conference_Location

Philadelphia, PA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0576-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/HOLM.1992.246937

Filename

246937