Nickel-based electrical contact
US4925407A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 30, 1986 |
| Grant date | May 15, 1990 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 30, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01H1/021
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Contacts comprising nickel and a glass-forming additive have electrical contact properties which render them suitable as replacements for gold contacts; disclosed contacts have low contact resistance even after prolonged exposure to an oxidizing ambient. The glass-forming additive is one or several of the elements boron, silicon, germanium, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, or bismuth, and contacts are readily formed, e.g., as layers on substrates. A crystallographically disordered structure is produced in a contact surface layer at least upon exposure to an oxidizing ambient; alternatively, such desired structure can be produced by ion bombardment and even in the absence of glass-forming additives.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.