Electrostatic Repulsion Between Highly Injecting Metals: An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

This paper is an experimental investigation of the major implications brought in the crossing resistance of mechanically contacted metals when operating in the high electronic injection regime, i.e., steady state interfacial voltage values greater than the max. acceptable level determined by specifications and less than the melting voltage. Under such operating conditions, monolayers of positive ions may be formed within interfacial cavities filled by the material from the surrounding space. The dominating ion neutralization process on the cathode controls the formation of “Helmholtz” inner layers at the metal cathode+oxide+gas interface. The presence of a positive ion monolayer over the cathode electrode will tend to reduce the field threshold required for electronic field emission and affect the overall currentvoltage characteristics.