It was reported in the previous paper that the surface layer had been proved to have high electrical resistance if it is free from breakdown and coherer effect at the oxide film (Rev. Sci. Insts. 25, 1954, 1221). In general, the conditions to obtain high resistance are as follows : (1) The surface is smooth, (2) The electrical conductivity of the oxide is low, (3) The film is considerably thick, (4) The oxide film and the underlying metal are amorphous, (5) The hardness of both metal and oxide are high. The paper describes further experiments. The circuit is shown in figure 2, contact part is bonded graphite with round tip (
r=2.5mm), the load on graphite is 110 g., and voltage used is 20 mV. The electrical contact resistance are. 1100 k
Ω, in the case of steel (Fig. 3) or specimen plated with chromium when they are finely finished by mechanical methods. On the contrary, the values for copper under the same conditions are smaller than 2
Ω. It is found by electron diffraction that the high resistance of the finished surface of the specimen plated with chromium is due to its oxide film.
The contact resistance of an aluminum surface mechanically finished is not high (usually smaller than 8
Ω). The resistance values of the surface, however, becomes rather high as shown in the last column of the figure 3 when it is elaborately polished. The electron micrograph of the film detached from the surface is shown in figure 5, and it shows embedding of abrasives and other materials under the aluminum surface. The high resistance of aluminum surfaces are attributed to the complexity of the mechanically finished surface.
View full abstract