Electric contact material for connector and method for producing same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9966163-B2
Application number	US-201415025777-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2013
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

An electric contact material for a connector includes a base material made of a metal material; an alloy layer that is formed on the base material and made of an alloy containing at least three elements including Sn and Cu as well as at least one metal selected from Zn, Co, Ni, and Pd; and a conductive coating layer formed on the surface of the alloy layer. The alloy layer contains an intermetallic compound obtained by replacing some of the Cu atoms in Cu 6 Sn 5 with at least one metal selected from Zn, Co, Ni, and Pd. It is preferable that the content of at least one metal selected from Zn, Co, Ni, and Pd in the alloy layer is in a range of 1 to 50 atom % when the total content of the metal and Cu is regarded as 100 atom %.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electric contact material for a connector comprising:
a base material made of a metal material;
a ternary alloy layer that is formed on the base material and contains Sn and Cu in addition to one metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Co, and Pd; and
a conductive coating layer formed on a surface of the ternary alloy layer,
wherein
the conductive coating layer is made of a conductive oxide or a conductive hydroxide, and
the ternary alloy layer contains an intermetallic compound obtained by replacing some Cu atoms in Cu 6 Sn 5 with one metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Co, and Pd.

2. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein a content of the one metal selected from Zn, Co, and Pd in the ternary alloy layer is in a range of 1 to 50 atom % relative to a total sum of the Zn, Co, and Pd atom content and a Cu atom content.

3. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 2 , wherein a diffusion barrier layer is provided on a surface of the base material.

4. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein a diffusion barrier layer is provided on a surface of the base material.

5. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive coating layer is made of the conductive oxide, the conductive oxide containing one or more of the metals included in the ternary alloy layer.

6. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive coating layer is made of the conductive hydroxide the conductive hydroxide containing one or more of the metals included in the ternary alloy layer.

7. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive coating layer comprises a mixture of the conductive oxide and conductive hydroxide, where the mixture comprises one or more member selected from the group consisting of
CuO x where x≠1,
CuO 2 , SnO x where x≠1,
ZnO x where x≠1,
CoO x where x≠1, and
PdO x where x≠1.

8. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive coating layer comprises a compound including one or more member selected from the group consisting of
CuO x where x≠1,
CuO 2 , SnO x where x≠1,
ZnO x where x≠1,
CoO x where x≠1, and
PdO x where x≠1.

9. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the conductive coating layer is about 5 to 500 nm.

10. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the conductive coating layer is about 10 to 200 nm.

11. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein
the ternary alloy layer is formed directly on the base material, and
the base material is a member selected from the group consisting of Cu, Al, Fe, and an alloy thereof.

12. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein
the ternary alloy layer is formed directly on the base material, and
the base material is Cu.

13. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein
the ternary alloy layer is formed directly on the base material, and
the base material is Al.

14. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein
the ternary alloy layer is formed directly on the base material, and
the base material is Fe.

15. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein
the ternary alloy layer is formed directly on the base material, and
the base material is an alloy of Cu, Al, and Fe.

16. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the intermetallic compound of the ternary alloy layer contains Sn, Cu and Pd.

17. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the intermetallic compound of the ternary alloy layer contains Sn, Cu and Zn.

18. The electric contact material for a connector according to claim 1 , wherein the intermetallic compound of the ternary alloy layer contains Sn, Cu and Co.

19. A method for producing an electric contact material for a connector comprising:
forming a multilayered metal layer by laminating a Sn layer, a Cu layer, and an M layer, on a base material made of a metal material such that a metal layer made of a metal that is least likely to be oxidized in the metal layers is an outermost layer, wherein the M layer is a metal layer having at least one layer made of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Co, and Pd; and
performing a reflow treatment in which the multilayered metal layer is heated in an oxidizing atmosphere after forming the multilayered metal layer to form an alloy layer the alloy layer is made of an alloy containing at least three elements,
the at least three elements including Sn and Cu in addition to at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Co, and Pd, where the alloy layer contains an intermetallic compound obtained by replacing some Cu atoms in Cu 6 Sn 5 with at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Co, and Pd being formed on the base material, and a conductive coating layer being formed on a surface of the alloy layer.

20. The method for producing an electric contact material for a connector according to claim 19 , wherein a diffusion barrier layer is formed on a surface of the base material prior to forming the multilayered metal layer.

Assignees

• Autonetworks Technologies Ltd
• Sumitomo Wiring Systems
• Sumitomo Electric Industries

Inventors

• Sawada Shigeru

Classifications

• C25D3/12

  of nickel or cobalt · CPC title

• H01B1/026 Primary

  Alloys based on copper · CPC title

• C25D5/34

  Pretreatment of metallic surfaces to be electroplated · CPC title

• C25D5/12

  at least one layer being of nickel or chromium · CPC title

• Y10T428/12882

  Cu-base component alternative to Ag-, Au-, or Ni-base component · CPC title