Sulphur corrosion effect on the electrical performance of silver films elaborated by physical vapor deposition

Abstract Electrical properties of Ag films elaborated by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process has been studied before and after corrosion exposure. We have shown that the minimum thickness of silver to resist to sulphurization atmosphere is one micron with an adherent coating. After a sulfurization time of 600 min, an electrical resistivity increase of only 10% is obtained for a film with 2 μm in thickness. This value is about 20% higher than the electrical resistivity of pure silver bulk material. For industrial applications of silver coatings, these results are relevant and demonstrate that PVD is an interesting process compared to the electrochemical ones for which silver thicknesses close to 5 μm are necessarily coated.