NICKEL-BASED ELECTRICAL CONTACT

摘要

Contacts comprising nickel and having a crystallographically disordered structure having 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. Contacts comprising nickel and at least one glass-forming additive selected from boron, silicon, germanium, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, or bismuth, 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 bombardement and even in the abscence of glass-forming additives.