Combinatorial studies for determining properties of thin-film gold-cobalt alloys

A library of gold-cobalt alloys was synthesized by combinatorial methods to explore potential contact materials for microfabricated microrelays. After a compositionally graded film was deposited, it was subjected to heat treatments to create precipitates and to promote precipitation hardening. Using a high-throughput screening method, the film was then characterized for mechanical hardness, sheet resistance, composition, and microstructure by using nanoindentation, four-point probe, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The hardness exhibited a linear behavior from pure gold to pure cobalt from 2 to 9 GPa. The microstructure included a metastable gold-silicide with a grain size that seems dependent on the amount of cobalt. From this combinatorial method, we gain an understanding of the material's structure-property relationship and can illuminate the link between mechanical and electrical properties to composition. This work presents the experiments and techniques for mapping material properties. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.