9.

Formation of Intermetallics in Lead-Free Systems.

M. Braunovic
MB Interface, 5975 Place de lAuthion, Suite 503, Montral. QC, Canada, H1M 2W3
E-mail: mbinterface@yahoo.com
D. Gagnon
IREQ, Institut de Recherche dHydro Qubec, Varennes, QC, Canada, J3X 1S1
cole de technologie Suprieure 1100 Notre Dame Ouest Montral (Qubec)
E-mail: gagnon.daniel@ireq.ca
Abstract
Formation and growth of intermetallics is one of the
most important problem in the search for reliable lead-free
alloys. Since the majority of the commercially available lead-free
alloys contain high tin concentration, there is a long-term
reliability concern due to tendency of tin to form intermetallics. A
prolonged exposure to higher temperatures of lead-free alloys
results in the continuous growth of brittle intermetallic layer that
is prone to facture thus leading to mechanical and electrical
failure of joint. In this work, the formation and growth of
intermetallics between lead-free alloys and contact materials such
as copper, tin-plated and silver-plated copper materials were
studied. For this purpose bimetallic couples formed between
commercially available lead free alloys and selected contact
materials were subjected to diffusion annealing using thermal
gradients and heating by electrical current. Following diffusion
annealing, the contact interfaces were subjected to a detailed
metallographic, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy
Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analyses. In addition, electrical
resistance were used for electrical characterization of the
intermetallics formed at the contact interfaces. The results of the
work enabled to make a comparative assessment of the
susceptibility of the lead free alloys to the formation of
intermetallics
I. INTRODUCTION

Increasing global concern about the environment and

awareness of lead-free activities has prompted users and
suppliers to investigate lead-free solder systems in detail. The
European community has a proposed Waste in Electronic and
Electric Equipment (WEEE) Directive that restricts the
intentional use of lead in electronic products after January 1,
2006. Although this Directive has not been approved yet by
the European Parliament, competitive pressures in consumer
electronics and concerns about the lead in discarded electronic
products, prompted considerable movement to reduce or
completely eliminate the use of lead in products. In Japan, the
Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA)
published a road map to achieve lead replacement by 2005.
In the U.S., however, there is no pending legislation to ban
lead-bearing alloys. Nevertheless, search for the lead-free
alternatives has been given considerable attention as
demonstrated the development work on lead-free solders that
has been launched by a number of organizations and
institutions. As a result of concentrated efforts, alternates to
lead-bearing solder alloy have been identified [1-3].

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However, despite considerable advances made so far in our

understanding of the behavior of the lead-free alloys, the
complexity of formation and properties of these alternatives
requires further work, especially in the area of the effect of
alloying elements on the aging behaviour and temperature
cycle conditions on the component and board level reliability.
Since most of the developed and commercially available
lead-free alternatives are tin-base alloys with melting point in
the range of 200-240C, there is a possibility that the
temperatures used during soldering processes may lead to the
formation of thick intermetallic layers. The intermetallics
formed are brittle and may compromise the mechanical
integrity of a joint, leading to failure at unacceptably low
mechanical stresses [4, 5]. Hence, it is important to determine
as to whether lead-free solder joints are susceptible to the
formation and growth of intermetallic compounds and prone to
fracture.
The main objective of this work is to investigate the
susceptibility of lead-free alloys to the formation of
intermetallics when in contact with copper base and their
impact on the electrical integrity of a joint. For this purpose a
number of commercially available lead-free alloys were used.
The work is carried out as a preliminary to a more general
investigation of the effect of intermetallics formation on the
quality and reliability of electrical connections involving leadfree alloys.
II EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

A. Samples and Surface Preparation

All test samples used in this work were 200 x 6 x 25 mm
busbars, cut from the ETP-grade copper bars. The size of the
busbars used corresponds to the terminals commonly used for
2/0 size conductor.
Prior to coating, the copper busbars were first cleaned
using a commercial degreaser/defluxer solvent Ayarel 2200.
Following cleaning and drying for 2 hours, the busbars were
dipped in RMA2002 commercial liquid flux, placed in an
environmental chamber and heated to a temperature
corresponding to that of molten bath. The ends of busbars,30
mm long, were then dipped in the molten alloy bath at 50C
higher than the melting point of the alloys used, held for 30s,

267

removed from the bath and cooled down at room temperature.

Depending on the lead-free alloy used, the thicknesses of the
solder coatings were in the range 20- 50 m.
The composition, electrical and mechanical properties of
five different lead-free solder alloys used in this work are
shown in Table.1.

group of samples, not subjected to heat treatment, was used to

compare the final state to the initial state.
After diffusion annealing, the samples were sectioned and
prepared for metallographic examination by optical and
scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction
analysis (EDX) for composition analysis.

Table 1 Selected properties of the lead-free alloys used[1].

Alloy

Melting
point (C)

Microhardness
HV (10 grf)

Electrical
resistivity
(cm)

217
217
227
138

17.6
15.2
12.9
17.2

13.8
12.4
11.4
30

Sn-Ag2.5/Cu.8-Sb0.5
Sn-Ag3.8/4-Cu0.5-0.7
Sn-Cu0.7
Sn 48-Bi58

HP 3852
DATA LOGGER

HP UNIX

I
DC
SOURCE

SHUNT

V
T

B. Diffusion Annealing

T7
V7

Diffusion annealing was realized by heating the samples

with a DC electrical current and in an environmental chamber.
The busbar joints were tightened to 50Nm force torque, which
corresponds to an initial contact force of 16 kN. Each joint
comprises a combination of steel bolt, two disc-spring
(Belleville) and two thick flat washers placed on each side of
the joint. This joint combination minimizes the effect stress
relaxation and thermoelastic ratcheting [6,7].
The busbars intended for diffusion annealing with an
electrical current were assembled in cross-rod configuration
and connected to a current source. A calibrated shunt mounted
in the circuit loop monitored the current level required to bring
the joint temperature to pre-set values that is 100 and 150C.
Since the joint resistances were slightly different, the control
system, HP 3852A microprocessor, computed the maximum
temperature in the loop and adjusted the source current to
maintain either 100 or 150C. This procedure provided
conditions for diffusion annealing where the rate of formation of
the intermetallic phases is relatively rapid.
The joint temperature was measured by chromel-alumel
thermocouples (Type K) inserted in holes drilled in the busbars
about 5mm from the contact interfaces. At any given time, the
difference between the maximum and minimum temperature in
the loop was within 10 - 15C. Figure 1 shows a schematic of
the set up used for diffusion annealing by an electrical current.
Two identical series of samples were produced: one series
was heated electrically while the other in an environmental
chamber at the same temperatures i.e. 100 and 150C. Since
the selected lead-free alloys have different melting
temperatures, diffusion annealing was carried out on two sets
of coated busbars.
The busbar coated with alloys Sn-Ag2.5-Cu0.8-Sb0.5, SnAg3.8-4-Cu0.5-0.7 and Sn-Cu0.7 with melting points around
215C were subjected to diffusion annealing at 150C for 25
days. The busbars coated with Sn42-Bi58 alloys were exposed
to diffusion annealing at 100 C also for 25 days. A control

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V1

T2

T1
1

V6

T5
2

V3

V4

T6
V5

V2

4
T3

T4

Figure 1: Schematic of experimental current cycling set up

C. Four-Point Probe Resistance Measurements
Following diffusion annealing by electrical current and
thermal gradient, a four-point probe DMO 350 microohmetre,
with a precision of 0.01 , was used to measure the resistance
changes developed between the plating and the copper base
within the volume sampled by current penetration. The probe
spacing was 1 mm. The microohmetre operates on current
pulses of 10 A and 17 ms duration.
The advantage of the four-probe resistance measuring
technique lies in its ability to detect minute structural change
in the material within a very small volume penetrated by
current. The size of the current penetration is determined by
the probe spacing. Typically, current penetration is limited to
1.5 times the probe spacing [8]. This technique has been
successfully used for studying semiconductor materials as well
as to monitor the case-, precipitation-, and strain-hardening
processes in metallic systems [9].
Another advantage of four-point probe resistance
measurement method is the possibility to correctly measure the
resistance of the sample without any interference from the
contact resistance at the probe contacts. This is because no
current flows through the inner pair of contacts thus no voltage
drops is generated at the probe contacts. The resistance
changes in the selected zones were sufficiently large to be
measured between the potential probe points. A simplified

268

schematic of the assembly used

measurements is shown in Fig. 1.

for

the

resistance

DMO-350 MICROHMETRE

Different platings in their non-annealed (initial) state,

increase the resistance by 2-3% in respect to that of non-plated
sections of the copper busbars. It is also apparent that different
platings increased the resistance by more or less the same
amount. In other words, this implies that the compositions of the
platings showed no appreciable influence on the resistance.
Table 2 Four-point probe resistance data for different
platings and copper in the initial state and after diffusion
annealing by electrical current and thermal gradient.
DIFFUSION ANNEALED BY ELECTRIC CURRENT

Mean ()
Std. Dev.
95% Conf.
Min
Max
R ()
R (%)
Mean ()
Std. Dev.
95% Conf.
Min
Max
R ()
R (%)

When the probe spacing (s) is considerably smaller than the

thickness (t) of the busbar, the resistivity ( ) of the volume
sampled by the four-point probe is given as
(1)

where s is spacing between the probes ( 1mm ) and Rm is the

resistance measured between the potential probes. Since the
volume sampled by the four-point probes encompasses both
bulk and the plating materials measures, the resistivity
measured comprises the contributions from the plating and the
bulk (copper busbars).
III

SnAgCuSb

SnCu

2.98
0.21
0.15
2.57
3.17
0.30
10.99

2.93
0.20
0.14
2.64
3.19
0.25
8.87

2.85
0.12
0.09
2.71
3.09
0.24
6.16

2.88
0.09
0.06
2.71
3.01
0.20
7.19

Mean ()
Std. Dev.
95% Conf.
Min
Max
R ()
R (%)

A Four-Point Probe Resistance Measurements

The results of four-point probe resistance measurements
are shown in Table 2. The resistance data were obtained by
averaging the readings from ten different measurements made
on the plated surfaces at random locations. The data are shown
with standard deviation and 95% confidence limit.
Also shown in Table 2 are the resistance measurements
made on unplated sections of the busbars and some other
materials such aluminum alloy 6061, nickel an silver. These
measurements were used as a reference for the reproducibility
and accuracy of the four-point probe measurement technique.
The resistivity values for these materials derived from these
measurements agree with the ones generally attributed to these
type of materials.
The characteristic feature of the resistance data is that
platings exert an appreciable effect on the resistance. The effect
appears to be more pronounced in the diffusion annealed than in
non-annealed.

2.83
0.31
0.22
2.51
3.53
0.15
5.57

2.81
0.17
0.12
2.65
3.26
0.13
4.85

2.79
0.13
0.09
2.71
3.14
0.11
3.91

2.78
0.26
27.8
2.47
3.20
0.10
3.69

INITIAL STATE AS PREPAREDBY HOT DIPPING

RESULTS

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SnBi

DIFFUSION ANNEALED BY THERMAL GRADIENT

Fig. 1 Simplified schematic of four-point probe resistance

measurements assembly.

= 2 s Rm

SnAgCu

2.73
0.11
0.05
2.53
2.94
0.05
1.87

2.76
0.12
0.06
2.58
2.98
0.08
3.01

2.76
0.19
0.09
2.53
3.03
0.08
2.97

2.71
0.14
0.07
2.56
3.01
0.03
1.25

REFERENCE RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS

Mean ()
Std. Dev.
95% Conf.
Min
Max
( cm)

Cu ETP
2.68
0.06
0.04
2.57
2.77
1.68

Ni
9.99
0.26
0.19
9.62
10.43
6.27

Al-6061
5.57
0.20
0.14
5.18
5.81
3.50

Ag
2.48
0.15
0.11
2.20
2.66
1.56

On the other hand, the resistance data of diffusion annealed

sampled showed completely different situation. This difference
is manifested not only by the magnitude of the resistance
changes but also by the type of diffusion annealing and the
plating composition. The diffusion annealed samples, plated

269

with SnAgCu, showed the highest increase in the resistance

while those plated with SnAgCuSb and SnCu the least.
Another very important feature of these results is that the
increase in resistance of samples subjected to diffusion
annealing by electrical current is higher than that of diffusion
annealed ones in the thermal gradient. It appears that the
intermetallic phases formed under the influence of electrical
field are more resistive than those formed by thermal gradient.
Some plausible explanation for the observed difference will be
discussed later in the paper.

the interface copper-intermetallics. The cracks were propagating

jot only along the boundary between copper and intermetallic
phase, but also across the intermetallic phase as well.
Sn Ag Cu Electrical Diffusion Annealing

B. SEM and EDX Analyses

The width of the intermetallic layers was determined with a
scanning electron microscope (SEM). The advantages of the
SEM analysis of diffusion studies are basically the ease of
operation, direct observation, and possibility for determining the
concentration penetration data and thus calculation of the
diffusion coefficients.

Sn-Bi Thermal DiffusionAnnealing

The thickness of the intermetallic phases formed at the

plating-copper interface was determined from the SEM
micrographs. The results of these measurements are shown in
Table 3. Figure 2 illustrates some typical morphology features of
the intermetallic phases formed during diffusion annealing by
electrical current and thermal gradient. Basically in all samples
tested two phases were detected.
From these results it can be inferred that the thicknesses of
the phases formed are apparently not affected by the type of
diffusion annealing used. In other words, it appears that the
formation is apparently independent of the diffusion annealing
treatment used.
The EDX elemental composition analysis of the
intermetallic phases formed indicated that the phase 1
corresponds to Cu3Sn while phase 2 to Cu6Sn5. However, it
should be pointed out that in the cases of Sn-Ag-Cu and Cu-Bi
alloys, silver and bismuth were also found. Another interesting
feature of the SEM examination of the copper-plating interface
is that in some cases like Sn-Cu alloys cracks were observed at

Sn Cu Electrical Diffusion Annealing

Table 3 Thicknesses of intermetallic phases formed at the

interface between copper base and plating of samples diffusion
annealed by electrical current and thermal gradient.
DIFFUSION ANNEALING BY ELECTRIC CURRENT
SnAgCu

SnBi

SnAgCuSb

SnCu

Phase 1 (m)

12

12

2-3

1-2

Phase 2 (m)

34

34

4-5

4-5

40

60

50

50

Plating (m)

DIFFUSION ANNEALING BY THERMAL GRADIENT

Phase 1 (m)

2-3

12

1-2

1-2

Phase 2 (m)

4-6

34

3-4

4-5

40

60

50

50

Plating (m)

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Fig. 2 Typical morphology of the intermetallic phases formed

at the interface between copper and plating. Phase 1
corresponds to Cu3Sn while phase 2 to Cu6Sn5
This is clearly illustrate din Fig.,3 depicting the morphology
of the copper-intermetallic phase interface of Sn-Cu alloys
subjected to diffusion annealing by electrical current. Note the
presence of extensive cracking not only along the intermetallic
interfaces but also across the phases. This feature, however, was
not present in the case of samples diffusion annealed in the
thermal gradient.

270

Fig. 3.

Cracks at the intermetallic boundaries in diffusion

annealed SnCu by electrical current.

The resistivity of the intermetallics formed at the lead-freecopper interface can be calculated from the four-point probe
resistance measurements made on the cross-sectioned pads of
flexible connectors. Since the resistance measurement of the
microohmetre is based on the current penetration into the
material [8], a rectangular conductor, such as shown in Fig. 5
can be envisaged as a volume of the material sampled by the
microohmetre probes. The cross-section area A = a b (b = 1.5 S)
of such a conductor was derived from the resistance
measurements made on the annealed copper samples using the
known resistivity value for hard drawn copper Cu = 1.80
cm and the probe spacing S.

R = (1/A) Cu S

IV. DISCUSSION
The results of numerous studies showed that the mechanical
properties of copper-tin are strongly affected by the presence of
the intermetallics when their thickness at the interface exceeds
the critical value of 2 microns. At this thickness, the interface
between the two metals in contact becomes brittle, thus making
the interface more highly porous and more susceptible to
adverse environmental effects due to the generation of numerous
fissures in the interdiffusion layer [10- 14]. This is clearly
illustrated in Fig. 9 showing extensive cracking at the interface
between Cu3Sn and Cu6Sn5 phases.

A = Cu S / R
The results of resistance measurements made by four-point
probe (Table 1) can be used to calculate the overall resistivity
(i) of the intermetallic layers formed. The calculations were
made from the weighted averages of resistors in series using the
following expression:
R = (1/A) n xn
(3)

i = (1/t ) [RA Cu (S - p) p (p t)]

The formation of the intermetallic phases has an extremely

detrimental effect on the electrical resistance as manifested by
dramatic increases in the contact resistance. A direct
consequence of increased resistance is heating of the contact,
which will result in an increased rate of formation of
intermetallic phases and also other degradation processes such
as creep, stress relaxation, fretting, oxidation, corrosion etc.

The evolution of the intermetallic phases at the lead-freecopper interface I schematically illustrated in Fig.4. The results
lf the SEM analysis indicated that diffusion annealing either by
thermal gradient or by electrical current for 25 days resulted in
the formation of basically Cu3Sn and C6Sn5 phases. For
practically all alloys used, the thickness of the Cu3Sn phase was
in the range 1-3 m whereas that of the C6Sn5 phase within 3-5
m.
AFTER PLATING
OXIDE

Sn

EARLY STAGES
OXIDE

Sn
Cu66Sn
Sn55
Cu

Cu6Sn5

Cu

Cu3Sn

Cu

Cu

Sn

IM

A
A
a

t
d

RCu

LATER STAGES

Ri

RSn

OXIDE

Sn
Cu6Sn5

R
Fig. 5

Cu3Sn

Cu

Fig. 4
Schematic of the intermetallic phase formation at he
lead-free - copper interface after plating and in the early and
later stages of diffusion annealing.

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(2)

Schematic illustration of the conductor sampled by

the microohmetre probes.

where R is the total resistances of the conductor sampled by

the the potential probes of the microohmetre measured across
the intermetallic layer, copper base and plating and A is the
cross-section area of the conductor, n and xn are the
resistivity and the thickness of each of the components. The
thickness of intermetallic layer was determined from the SEM
images of the cross-sectioned busbars. Since the thickness of the

271

intermetallic phases formed were within 4-6m, the value of 5

m fwas used in these calculations. The results are shown in
Table. 3.
Table 3. Calculated resistivity values for the intermetallic
layers formed at the lead-free-copper interface after diffusion
annealing by thermal gradient and electrical current.
SnAgCu

SnBi

SnAgCuSb

SnCu

Plating (m)

40.00

60.00

50.00

50.00

IM (m)

5.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

Thermal

2.83

2.81

2.79

2.78

i ( cm)

19.06

16.80

13.54

12.54

Electric

2.98

2.93

2.85

2.88

i ( cm)

37.61

30.72

21.31

24.45

The obtained values for the resistivities of the intermetallic

phases formed under the influence of thermal gradient are within
the values generally found in the literature for the Cu3Sn and
C6Sn5 phases. However, the resistivities of samples diffusion
annealed by electrical current are significantly higher than those
treated by temperature gradient. Hence, if the assumptions used
to make these calculations are correct, then the obtained results
are very intriguing, indeed.
Although a specification of the exact mechanism for the
observed difference is beyond the scope of this work, some
plausible explanations can be put forward to account for the
effect of electrical current on the resistivity of diffusion annealed
samples.
On possibility is that the observed difference is an indication
of different stresses generated during diffusion annealing. It is
now well established that as a result of rapid interstitial and
grain boundary diffusion, significant mechanical stresses can be
developed in the intermetallic layers that impair mechanical
integrity of the layered contact interface [12, 15].
Indeed, the microhardness of the phases formed is much
harder than that of copper and lead-free plating and are very are
brittle [1, 4]. Hence, it would appear that under the influence of
electrical current, higher mechanical stresses are generated
leading to crack formation at the intermetallic interfaces. Indeed,
as seen in Fig. 3, cracks were observed in the samples subjected
to diffusion annealing by electrical current.
In addition, since an electric current was used to generate the
intermetallic growth, it may be argued that the observed
acceleration might be associated with the materials transport by
electromigration [16]. In electromigration the material transport
occurs via interaction between the atoms of a conductor and a
high density current of the order of 104 - 105 A/cm2. However,
electromigration is not expected under the low-current densities
or AC conditions. The AC current densities used in this work
(<103 A/cm2) were lower than the levels used to generate the
material transport. Therefore, electromigration alone is unlikely

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to be the operating mechanism responsible for the initial rapid

increase in the contact resistance with intermetallic thickness.
Another possible mechanism is that accelerated diffusion
occurs via some short-circuit diffusing paths rather than through
the lattice. Such short diffusion paths, called "pipe diffusion"
can be dislocations, grain and subgrain boundaries. Diffusion
along these paths is found to be considerably faster (several
orders of magnitude) than diffusion of the same species through
the lattice [17].
In summary it can be stated that although a detailed
mechanisms responsible for a rapid diffusion and formation of
intermetallic phases could not be clearly determined, the results
presented are sufficiently consistent to conclude that electrical
current could exert a pronounced effect on the morphology of
the lead-free plated solid-phase joints as clearly demonstrated in
the case of Al-Cu bimetallic contacts [18]. Hence, in view of
ever-increasing use of lead-free alloys in a variety of electronic
applications, it is evident that the effect of electrical current has
significant importance in the search for reliable electrical
connections..
V

CONCLUSIONS

1. The results show that the formation and growth of

intermetallic phases in lead-free-plated copper conductors exerts
pronounced effect on their electrical integrity.
2. The deleterious effect of intermetallic phases is
manifested by an increased resistance of joint interfaces in
samples subjected to diffusion annealing by an electrical current
and thermal gradient.
3. The increase in resistance of the samples diffusion
annealed by electrical current is much higher then that caused by
the thermal gradient.
VI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author wishes to express his thanks to A. Joly, A.

Watier, J. Larouche, P. Dufresne and J. St-Onge of IREQ,
Hydro-Quebec Research Institute for the technical assistance
and successful execution of this work.
VII

[1].

REFERENCES

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[2].

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[3].

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www.lead-free.org/ and http://www.solderworld.com/

[4].

P. Roubaud, S. Prasad, R. Bulwith , S. Kamath and A. Garcia

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[5].

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[7].

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Effect in Bolted Aluminum-t-Aluminum Connections, IEEE
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[8].

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[9].

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the Four-Point Probe, Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 37,
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[10].

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of Intermetallics Compounds Commonly Found in solder
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[11].

W. Urquhart, Interdiffusion Studies on Contact Plating

Materials, Electrical Contacts -1976, ITT, September (1976)
p. 185.

[12].

C.L. Bauer and G.G. Lessmann, "Metal-Joining Methods",

Annual Review of Materials Sci., 6, (1976), pp. 361-387.

[13].

U. Lindborg, B. Asthner, L. Lind and L. Revay, "Intermetallic

Growth and Contact Resistance of Tin Contacts after Aging",
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[14].

L. Zakraysek, Intermetallic Growth in Tin-Rich Solders.

Welding Research Suppl., November (1972) p. 537s.

[15].

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Copper-Tin Intermetallics and the Influence of Layer Thickness
on Shear Strength, Weld. Res., October (1990), p. 373-s.

[16].

H.B. Huntington, "Electromigration in Metals" in Diffusion in

Solids: Recent Developments, Eds. A.S. Nowick, and J.J.
Burton, NY, Academic Press, (1974), Chapter 6

[17].

N.A. Gjosten, Diffusion, ASM (1973) p. 241

[18].

M. Braunovic and N. Alexandrov, Intermetallic Compounds at

Aluminum-to-Copper Electrical Interfaces: Effect of
Temperature and Electric Current, IEEE Trans. CPMT, Part A,
vol 17, (1994) p. 78

[19].

A.K. Bandyopadhyay and S.K. Sen, "A Study of Compound

Formation in a Copper-Tin Bimetallic Couples", J. Appl. Phys.,
67, (1990), p. 3681.

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Dr. Milenko Braunovic received his Dipl. Ing

Degree in Technical Physics from the University of
Belgrade, ex-Yugoslavia (now Serbia-Montenegro),
in 1962 and the M. Met. and Ph. D. degrees in
Physical Metallurgy from the University of
Sheffield, England in 1967 and 1969 respectively.
From 1971 until 1997 he was working at IREQ,
Hydro-Quebec Research Institute, Varennes,
Quebec as a senior member of the scientific staff.
He retired from IREQ in 1997 and established his
own scientific consulting company, MB Interface. During the last 30 years, he
has been responsible for the development and management of a broad range of
research projects for Hydro-Qubec and the Canadian Electrical Association
(now CEA Technology) in the areas of electrical power contacts, connector
design and evaluation, tribology and accelerated test methodologies. He also
initiated and supervised the R&D activities in the field of shape-memory alloy
applications in power systems
Dr. Braunovic is the author of more than 100 papers and technical reports,
including contributions to encyclopaedias and books, in his particular areas of
scientific interests. In addition he frequently lectures at numerous seminars
worldwide and has presented a large number of papers at various international
conferences. For his contributions to the science of electrical contacts, Dr.
Braunovic is recipient of the Ragnar Holm Scientific Achievement Award, the
Ralph Armington Recognition Award and the IEEE CPMT Best Paper Award.
He successfully chaired the 15th International Conference on Electrical
Contacts held in Montreal 1990 and was a Technical Program Chairman of the
18th International Conference on Electrical Contacts held in Chicago 1996. He
is a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of American Society for Metals
(ASM), Materials Research Society (MRS), Planetary Society, American
Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM) and The Minerals, Metals &
Materials Society (TMS).
Daniel Gagnon received his B.Eng. and
M.Eng. degrees in mechanical and systems
engineering from cole de Technologie
Suprieure in Montreal Canada in 1995 and
1998 respectively. He is presently a project
manager at Hydro Qubec Research
Institute, Canada in the mechanical,
metallurgical and civil engineering
department. He is also a Ph. D. candidate at
the cole de Technologie Suprieure. His research interests are electrical
contacts, composite materials and aerial conductors.

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