Field emission and material transfer in microswitches electrical contacts

摘要

Material transfer from one electrical contact part to the other has already been reported innmicroswitches operating under hot switching conditions. By using an atomic force microscope withna conductive cantilever, we highlighted that electrons are emitted from the cathode when electrodenseparation becomes less than a few tens of nanometers. This electronic emission proves to follownFowler–Nordheim theory and leads to the damage of the opposite contact member u0002anodeu0003 bynimpact heating. Anode material evaporates under this extreme heating and deposits on the oppositencontact member u0002cathodeu0003, leading to a material transfer from anode to cathode. © 2010 AmericannInstitute of Physics. u0004doi:10.1063/1.3529474