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*'"ffAU Of * NBS TECHNICAL NOTE 1053

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Electrical Properties of Materials and Their

Measurement at Low Temperatures

F. R. Fickett

Electromagnetic Technology Division

National Engineering Laboratory

National Bureau of Standards

Boulder, Colorado 80303

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Ernest Ambler, Director

Issued March 1982
National Bureau of Standards Technical Note 1053

Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note 1053, 76 pages (March 1982)

CODEN: NBTNAE

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON:1982

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Governnnent Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402

Price $4.75

(Add 25 percent for other than U.S. nnailing)
CONTENTS

Page No. Chapter 1. LOW TEMPERATURE RESISTIVITY 1 Chapter 2. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES AND CONSIDERATIONS 5 2.1 Direct current measurements 5 2.2 Alternating current measurements 6 2.3 Eddy current method 7 2.4 Low level measurements 8

2.5 Additional considerations 8 Temperature control 8

Bonding of specimen 10

Temperature measurement 10

Lead attachment 10

Thermal considerations for lead wires 12

Thermal contraction 12

Chapter 3. PURE METAL RESISTIVITY 13

3.1 Intrinsic resistivity 13

Anisotropic metals 14

Crystallographic transformations 15

Magnetic transformations 16

3.2 The effect of impurities 16

Impurity resistivity at fixed temperature 18

The effect of temperature 20

Kondo effect 21

Gases as impurities 23

3.3 Defect resistivity 24

Defects and their production 25

The resistive contribution of defects 26

3.4 Size effects 27

Chapter 4. ALLOY RESISTIVITY 30

4.1 Well-behaved alloys 30

4.2 Alloys with ordering and amorphous alloys 32

4.3 Alloys with phase transitions or precipitation 34

4.4 Magnetic alloys 35

4.5 Zero temperature-coefficient alloys 37

Chapter 5. EXTERNAL RESISTIVE MECHANISMS 39

5.1 Magnetoresistance 39

5.2 Hall effect 42

5.3 Pressure effects 43

5.4 Stress and fatigue 44

111
Page No. Chapter 6. AC RESISTIVITY 47

6.1 The skin effect — classical and anomalous 47

6.2 Eddy currents and magnetic diffusivity 49

6.3 Dielectrics 51

Chapter 7. LOW TEMPERATURE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SPECIFIC METALS AND ALLOYS 54

7.1 Conductors 54

7.2 Structural alloys 57

7.3 Other materials 57

REFERENCES 60
Electrical Properties of Materials

and Their Measurement at Low Temperatures

F. R. Fickett

Electromagnetic Technology Division

National Bureau of Standards

Boulder, Colorado 80303

ABSTRACT

A review is given of the electrical resistance of materials at cryogenic temperatures,

Measurement techniques, the data base, and uses of the data are presented. The emphasis

is on metals and alloys of technological importance; a topic which covers a large range of

materials. Similarly, the treatment of theory and of measurement techniques is primarily

for the user interested in the more practical aspects of the subject. In every instance,

however, references are given which allow the reader to pursue the subject at any level.

Key words: alloys; conductivity; electrical property; metals; polymers; resistance;

resistivity; review.

^Funded in part by DoE Division of High Energy Physics,

Chapter 1. LOW TEMPERATURE RESISTIVITY

The low temperature electrical resistivity of materials is one of the most useful of

the physical properties. From it one can deteirmine much about the chemical purity and

mechanical state of a material. In more esoteric investigations, resistivity measurements

provide detailed information on the electronic structure and other aspects of the basic

physics of metals. In several instances, knowledge of the resistivity allows prediction

of other properties, such as thermal conductivity, which are less convenient to measure. Resistivity is easily measured to reasonable accuracy for technological applications ('^1%)

and even very accurate measurements can be made with a modest investment in equipment. As one might expect, the literature on electrical resistivity is massive in quantity and,

generally of high quality. Excellent tutorial treatments of all aspects of the subject

are available.

In this monograph a condensed treatment of topics pertaining to resistance at cryogenic temperatures is presented: its measurement, the resistive mechanisms, and the data

base. The emphasis is on metals and alloys of technological importance; a topic which

covers an amazingly large range of materials. Similarly, the treatment of theory and of

measurement techniques is for those interested in the more practical aspects of the

subject. In every instance, however, references are given which allow the reader to pursue the subject at any level. Some words are appropriate here regarding what is not

covered. There is no discussion of superconductors, semiconductors, or most insulators.

Theory and experiment relating to single crystals or thin films are mentioned only when

the information leads to a better understanding of the technologically important metals.

These more basic topics are well described in the referenced texts.

No discussion of resistivity at low temperatures would be complete without specialmention of the book by Meaden [1], which is the most modern general treatment available,

particularly concerning pure metallic elements. The data presented there and the extensive list of references covering the period to 1964 can save one many hours of labor with

the original literature.

A word is in order here regarding handbook tabulations of resistivity data. The data

presented in even the most recent editions of handbooks may be of ancient origin. These

data may be very accurate, but many materials, particularly pure metals, are now produced

by techniques resulting in significant increases in purity over those of earlier days. In many instances this change produces dramatic low temperature effects and is noticeable

even in the room temperature resistivity. Some tabulations reference the sources of data,

but most do not. In the latter cases it is best to view the information with skepticism.

Regarding the pure and commercially pure metals: there is no such thing as a low

temperature resistivity for these metals. Changes in impurity and defect content, which

are minor from an industrial standpoint may cause dramatic changes in the low temperature

resistivity. For example, recent measurements of commercial copper satisfying the CDA102

specification (99.95% Cu + Ag) have given resistivity values at 4 K which range from 3 to

34 n^ cm. This does not represent a failing of the manufacturer; in each instance the
copper is well within the specification. The message is clear: if the low temperature

resistivity is an important parameter for the job at hand, it must be measured on the

specific material to be used.

To indicate the large range of values covered by the electrical resistivity, consider

figure 1.1, which presents typical resistivity data as a function of temperature for a number of metals and figure 1.2, which indicates the resistive behavior of a variety of

copper products [2]. In table 1.1 ice point values for the resistivity of several common metals and alloys are listed. The measurements are reasonably recent except for some of

those referenced to Hall which are "best values" derived from an extensive literature

survey. In each case the materials are very well characterized in the references. A

value of the residual resistivity ratio RRR is also given in the table.

Most of the figures presented here are prepared using data from the literature.

Often it was necessary to extract those data from small graphs, so that the exact numerical values shown here may not be very accurate. These curves are intended to indicate

general behavior only; for accurate data, the referenced sources should be consulted.

RRR - Residual Resistivity Ratio = p(273 K)/p(4 K) . In metals of commercial purity or better, the numerator depends essentially only on the thermal vibrations of the lattice

and not on the impurities. The denominator depends only on the impurities and defects for

most metals, and thus the ratio is a sensitive indicator of purity; in fact, it is capable

of detecting impurity levels far below those which can be seen by most analytical techniques. To first order, the ratio is independent of shape factor, i.e., it is equal to the ratio of the resistances. In highly alloyed metals, the ratio is not as meaningful

and is useful only in comparing samples of nominally similar composition.
10 6x10

10

E

>

I—vi

CO

uu<

o

cc 10"

IQ-^U

-T~rr 1 I

I II M "1 r

STAINLESS STEEL

(AISI 300 SERIES)

BRASS

Be

AI(IIOG)

Cu (CDA 102) Oxygen Free'

10"^l I J I I I I I J L

10 100 TEMPERATURE, K

400

Figure 1.1. Resistivity of several common

metals as a function of

temperature

10

CS 10"' 4.

(/3 CO

LU

CC

ccI—

10

-3

1-4

5x10"

1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 11 1 1

BRASS ___^

"""^^^

Cu (06 atomic % Mn)/// /V

/-

Cu (CDA 150) __.^-^ //

-

Zirconium Copper //

Cu (CDA 102) y / OxygenFree' / -

/cu (High Purity)

/ 'Five-Nines' 'J 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 100 TEMPERATURE, K

400

Figure 1.2. Resistive behavior of a number

of "pure" coppers and copper

copper alloys.
Table 1.1. Resistivity of selected metals and alloys at the ice point

P Reported RRR

Material (yflcm) E p(273 K)/p(4 K) Reference

Pure metals

Aluminum 2.428 40,000 Fickett [3]

Beryllium 2.70 75 Reich [4]

Cobalt 5.24 60 Hall [5]

Copper 1.553 12,000 Fickett [6]

Chromium 12.155^ 213 Hall [7]

Gold 2.058^ 300 Hust [8]

Indium 8.00^ 13,000 Hall [5]

Iron 9.07^ 23

15,000^

Hust and Giarratano [9]

Lead 19.2 Hall [5]

Magnesium.

Manganese

4.12 285 Hedgcock and Muto [10] a 143.5 a 16 Hall [7]

6 91.0

Y 22.7

Molybdenum 5.0 22 Hall [5]

Nickel 6.23^ 270h , 1500^'^

Laubitz, Matsumura, and Kelly [11]

Niobium 13.96 Hall [5]

Platinum 9.60 755 Ibid.

Sodium 4.337 'x/ 500 Cook, Van der Meer and Laubitz [12]

Silver 1.48 2000 Hall [5]

Titanium 39.4 33 Hall [5]

Tungsten

T^'" a

4.94 80 Hust and Giarratano [13]

10.1 63,000

1400^

Hall [5]

Zinc^ 5.45 Babic, Ocko, and Rizzuto [14]

Commercially pure metals

Aluminum 1100 2.67 32 Clark, Childs, and Wallace [15]

Copper CDA 102 1.56 97 Ibid.

CDA 150 1.73 11 Ibid.

Nickel TD 6.73 39 Ibid.

Commercial alloys

Bronze, 90% 3.90 1.8 Ibid.

Naval Brass 6.32 1.6 Ibid.

CuNiSO 38.4 1.05 Ibid.

Stainless Steels

NBS-SRM 78.6 1.32 Hust and Giarratano [16]

AISI 304L 70.4 1.42 Clark, et al. [15]

AISI 316 75.0 1.39 Ibid.

AISI 321 73.9 1.38 Ibid.

AISI 410 55.9 1.46 Ibid.

Invar 36 79.5 1.58 Ibid.

Ti-6A1-4V 167.5 -- Ibid.

a. Anisotropic resistivity observed in single crystals,

specimens.

b. Allotropic metal

.

c. Interpolated value.

d. Superconducting above 4.2 K. Magnetic field applied.

e. 4 K data from Keil, Merbold and Diehl [17]

f. 4 K data from Boato, Bugo and Rizzuto [18]

Data are for polycrystalline
Chapter 2. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES AND CONSIDERATIONS

Resistivity is one of the easiest of all physical properties to measure. The basic

techniques and apparatus are described in detail by Meaden [1] and by Gerritsen [19] as well as in many electrical measurements texts such as those by Stout [20], Gregory [21]

and Wolf [22]. The Kelvin bridge method and the potentiometer method are two of the most

useful classical measurement techniques. They both offer better than 1% accuracy in

micro-ohm level measurements. Most of the textbook methods are quite time consuming, and

the approaches actually used in most laboratories are somewhat less sophisticated, since

time is often of the essence and high precision is not usually required. Several of these

easier techniques are described here; the more esoteric ones are left to the authors

referenced above.

The equation from which the resistivity, p, is most often calculated is

p = RA/Ji = VA/I£ (2.1)

where R is the resistance of the specimen, V the voltage measured, I the current, A the cross sectional area of the specimen and £ the length between the voltage probes. With

reasonable care, both A and i can be determined to 0.5% and, of course, to greater precision in a carefully designed experiment. The usual technique of determining an average

wire diameter for the calculation of A will lead to incorrect results if there are significant variations in diameter along the specimen. Most experiments are designed such that

the voltages to be measured are on the order of microvolts or greater. This leads to practical specimen sizes and current levels, as well as giving a voltage measurable with

good accuracy by relatively inexpensive equipment. Furthermore, equipment such as this is

easily adapted to the many modern computer control methods for automated operation.

2.1 Direct current measurements

A direct current (dc) system, which has been used successfully for routine measurements, is shown in figure 2.1. The current source can be anything from an automobile

battery to a precision current calibrator. It should be stable over the time required for

a measurement. The standard resistor is chosen primarily to have a sufficiently low

resistance that it will not suffer any significant heating at the highest currents.

Allowable power dissipation limits are stated by the manufacturers — they are lower than

one might expect, so it is well to check them. Reversal of the current is essential to eliminate thermoelectric voltages, a complication to be discussed shortly. The use of a commercial nanovoltmeter with its output read by a relatively inexpensive digital voltmeter provides good precision ('^1%) with minimum cost and allows for greater flexibility

in an environment where instruments must often be shared among several experiments. The

use of a four-probe system for the leads (i.e., separate sets for current and voltage) is

the best approach to low level dc resistance measurement; two-lead systems introduce too

many possible sources of error.
standard

Resistor

Current

Source

leads

twisted

and/or

'Shielded

leads thermally

anchored . near sampleF I ^AAAAAAAAASample

Low Temperature Region

Figure 2.1. Block diagram of a system for low temperature resistivity measurements,

2.2 Alternating current measurements

At first glance, alternating current (ac) techniques, particularly those involving

modern lock-in amplifiers seem to offer many advantages in low temperature resistance

measurements, particularly in the elimination of thermal voltages. In practice, however,

rather heroic techniques are necessary to make accurate measurement of resistances smaller

than 1 Q, [23]. On the other hand several very nice ac bridge circuits have been developed

for relatively high- resistance thermometry applications at low temperatures [24,25]. The

only source of detailed information on lock-in measurement techniques applicable to low

temperature resistivity measurements appears to be in the manufacturers' literature.

Shielding and grounding, along with the correct use of transformers, are the major problems in such an application and are discussed in detail by Morrison [26].
2.3 Eddy current method

An ac technique which has proven very useful in relative resistivity determinations

is the eddy current decay method. The basis for the method is described by Bean, DeBlois,

and Nesbitt [27] and a description of a working system is given by Clark, Deason, Hust,

and Powell [28]. A schematic of the apparatus is shown in figure 2.2. While not particularly accurate (1 to 5%) as a resistivity measurement, the system is extremely fast.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to attach leads to the specimen and resistivity ratios of

specimens of odd shapes and sizes can be measured easily. The system is relatively

expensive and parts of it must be homemade. For experiments requiring repeated low

temperature measurement on the same specimen, such as annealing recovery curves or impurity segregation experiments, it is a valuable tool. An adaptation of this technique to measurements of the anisotropic resistivity observed in some metals (see section 3.1) is

described by Lawson [29].

Trigger^On

CURRENT

SUPPLY

LIN

DELAY

Trigger^On

Trigger^Off

EAR

dl/dt

SWITCH

RECORDER or OSCILLOSCOPE

ATTENUATOR

LNgor LHe

DEWAR

AMPLIFIER

PRIMARY COIL

SECONDARY COIL

SPECIMEN

Figure 2.2. Apparatus for the eddy current decay technique. A recorder is used to display long time-constant traces (large specimens of very pure metals) and

an oscilloscope for shorter time constants.
2.4 Low level measurements

The relatively easy methods just described do not always suffice. The most frequent

failing occurs when voltages well below the microvolt level must be measured. In fact,

nanovolt signals are commonly encountered in physics experiments on pure metals. In spite

of the availability of commercial nanovoltmeters and potentiometers on the market, measurements at this level are very difficult and measurements with 1% accuracy require very

specialized apparatus. A nanovolt detection system using commercial components is described

by Clark and Fickett [30]. An extensive discussion of techniques using SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices) detectors is given by Gifford, Webb, and Wheatley

[31]. Other devices, which convert the low level dc voltage to ac in the cryostat and

subsequently amplify the resulting signal, have been described in the literature. Magnetic

amplifiers [32], Hall effect amplifiers [33], superconducting modulators [34], and relay

modulators [35] have all been used in this manner.

2.5 Additional considerations

Low temperature measurements introduce other special problems of a technical nature

that must be considered:

a. The temperature of the specimen must be accurately measured and precisely

controlled

b. At low temperatures, joining techniques for current and voltage leads are more critical than at room temperature.

c. Voltage leads traverse a large temperature gradient, leading to spurious thermal

voltages and creating unwanted paths for heat conduction.

d. Uneven thermal contraction of parts of the apparatus can stress the sample.

In addition to these, there are more basic phenomena which can create havoc for the

unwary, such as size effects and large resistance changes due to magnetic fields or phase

transformations. These are covered in later chapters. Here we discuss only the four

topics listed above.

Temperature control . When resistivity measurements as a function of temperature are necessary, the experimental setup becomes much more complex. In some instances, one can take an easy way out by immersing the specimen in various constant temperature baths. The

most common baths are liquified gases and slushes (solid-liquid mixtures) of organic

fluids, usually prepared by mixing with liquid nitrogen [36]. Some of the temperatures

attainable by this method are listed in table 2.1. The temperatures of the liquid gas

baths are dependent on pressure and, thus, on elevation; for example, liquid helium boils

at 4.0 K at Boulder, Colorado (elevation 1610 m) vs. 4.2 K at sea level. It should not

need emphasis that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen should be used only by those familiar

with their unique capabilities for total destruction of the laboratory. Some caution is

also necessary with many of the organics. It is common practice to mix crushed dry ice • with either acetone or alcohol to make a liquid bath at dry ice temperature. Any cryogenic bath should be contained in an insulated container for stability and longevity.

Vacuum pumping of cryogenic liquids, combined with some form of pressure control, such as
a manostat system, allows attainment of '^-l K with helium, 14 K with hydrogen, 25 K with

neon and 64 K with nitrogen, but the resulting system complexity seldom justifies such an approach except for the case of helium, where only more complex options (e.g., dilution

refrigerators) are available. The entire range of specialized techniques for producing

and measuring temperatures below 1 K is described by Betts [37] and not discussed here.

In all other cases the heater temperature control techniques described below are more

practical.

Table 2.1. Liquified gas and slush bath temperatures.

Substance Temperature (K)^ Bath Type

Ice water 273.15 Slush

Isobutane 262.9 Liquid B.P.

Carbon tetrachloride 250 Slush

Propane 230.8 Liquid B.P.

m-xylene 226 Slush

Trichloroethylene 200 Slush

Carbon dioxide 194.6 Solid

Methanol 175 Slush

n-pentane 142 Slush

Iso-pentane 113 Slush

Methane 111.7 Liquid B.P.

Oxygen 90.1 Liquid B.P.

Nitrogen 77.3 Liquid B.P.

Neon 27.2 Liquid B.P.

Hydrogen 20.4 Liquid B.P.

Helium (He^) 4.2 Liquid B.P.

Helium (He^) 3.2 Liquid B.P.

^All temperatures given at 0.1 MPa (1 atm).

Continuous temperature control may be performed by a variety of techniques. White

[38] discusses several methods in general outline and includes references to the literature. The technique of electrically heating a copper block in good thermal contact with

the specimen, but partially isolated from the coolant bath by a properly chosen heat leak,

is the usual choice. The electronics for temperature control are available commercially
or can be built rather easily. The electrical concepts are discussed by Forgan [39]. A

precision at low temperature of '^50 mK is easily obtained; 1 mK requires some care. Systems have been described in the literature that offer control to 50 yK [40] , or even

1 pK [41]. A much less sophisticated technique is sometimes adequate in which the speci- men and a heat-sink block containing a thermometer are immersed in liquid helium for a 4 K

measurement and then removed to the space above the liquid and allowed to drift upward in

temperature. With the use of a stable x-y recorder, this technique is a good method for

looking for "glitches" in the resistivity caused by phase transformations, etc. The

temperature profiles of a particular dewar configuration have been measured by Crooks

[42].

Bonding of specimens . In most instances, a good thermal bond between the specimen

and the heat sink block is important because thermometers are usually attached to the heat

sink rather than to the specimen. It is nearly always desirable that the bonding agent be

an electrical insulator. The most common materials are an electrical varnish and various

greases. Thermal conductivity values for these materials have been measured [43,44].

When constructing a new apparatus, the specimen-heat sink temperature difference should be

checked, possibly with a differential thermocouple arrangement. With reasonable care, the

thermal contact should be adequate for moderately precise work.

Temperature measurement . The measurement of low temperatures is discussed in many

texts, two of the most useful are those by Meaden [1] and White [38]. Rubin [45] has

published an extensive review. Low temperature tables are now available for many standardized thermocouple types [46]. Table 2.2 lists some of the more common thermometers

used at 4 K and above and their properties. An excellent discussion of these transducers

and several others such as gas thermometers, is given by Sparks [48]. The problems of

bonding, mentioned above, and of thermal anchoring, are very important.

Lead attachment . The method of attaching the potential leads and, to a lesser

degree, the current leads to the resistivity specimen requires some consideration.

Pressure contact arrangements are often adequate for measurements made in a liquid bath.

All kinds of steel knife edges, brass screws with sharp points and fine, bare copper

wires, have been used. Spring loading of the contacts at room temperature seems to work

well—almost any spring material will do. Attention must be paid to the relative thermal

expansion of various parts of the sample holder. Pressure contact systems have the

advantage of precise location of the probes and minimum disruption of the specimen. It has been the author's experience that pressure contacts never work well in a high magnetic

field. Excessive noise always seems to occur on the voltage signal. When measurements

are to be made over a temperature range or in a magnetic field, soldering, spot welding,

or welding appear to be the only reasonable techniques. Solders are available with

melting points from below 373 K (BiPbSn) to about 473 K (PbSn) . They are nearly all

superconducting, and some have critical temperatures in excess of 7 K and critical fields ^ near 1 T [49]. Normally this superconductivity presents no problem, but it can cause trouble in specific experiments. Soldering of potential leads generally gives a large

contact area and decreases the precision with which the probe separation can be measured.

10

1
A complex, but successful technique for increasing this precision involves: coating the

specimen with varnish, curing, drilling a 0.2 mm diameter hole to the metal surface,

inserting a 0.12 mm flux coated ball of low melting point solder (available commercially),

heating to melt the solder, and inserting a pre-tinned potential lead. Spot welding can be used for nearly any combination of metals, but it is easiest for higher resistivity

materials. Often an intermediate metal such as nickel must be employed. Some arrangements, such as joining a small diameter copper wire to one of large diameter, will tax the

skill and patience of the most accomplished welder. The major problem with spot welding

leads is the possibility of major damage to the specimen by mechanical deformation or arc

burn. Welding, usually used for joining fine wires, is a reliable technique if a small

oxy-hydrogen torch is available.

Table 2.2, Thermometers for the measurement of low temperatures

Type Temperature

Range (K)

Comments

Liquid in glass

Toluene

Pentane

Thermocouple

Type E Type KP or EP vs, Au.07at.%Fe

180-320

70-300

20-300

4- 20

An impure pentane,

Useful also above room temperature.

Can be used to room temperature^

Metal resistor

Platinum

Copper

Indium

Semiconductor

Germanium

Thermistor

Carbon resistor

10-300

20-300

4-300

4-100

4-300

4-100

Can be used to 1200 K - usual appli'

cation is above 50 K. Not commercially available.

Not commercially available.

Very sensitive to magnetic fields,

Very sensitive to magnetic fields.

Inexpensive, less field sensitive

than the semiconductors.

a. AuFe is not a standardized thermocouple type but is available commercially.

Tables are given by Sparks and Powell [47].

11
Thermal considerations for lead wires . The conduction of heat to the specimen by the

leads can occasionally be troublesome. In such cases leads of high thermal resistance

alloys, such as constantan, Evanohm, or manganin are sometimes used. The alloys have

similarly high electrical resistances. Theoretical aspects of the problem and some practical calculations are presented by Mercouroff [50]. A more common solution is to use copper wire, but to anchor a reasonable length of the lead to a heat sink block which

approximately tracks the specimen in temperature [51]. This technique has the added

advantage of minimizing spurious thermal emf's. These thermoelectric voltages, generated

in the presence of thermal gradients, arise from contacts between dissimilar metals and

from inhomogeneities in the lead material. Spurious voltages in a well-designed experiment should be stable at the submicrovolt level over short time periods. All dc potential

measurements should be an average of two readings taken before and after reversing the

sample current.

Thermal contraction . Relative thermal contraction may cause serious problems in

electrical measurements at low temperatures due to the wide range of behavior exhibited

for various classes of common materials [2]. Clearly, a pure metal rigidly attached to a plastic substrate will be strongly compressed on cooling. The usual result of such an arrangement is that the metal tends to buckle. The obvious solution is to allow some motion of the specimen in the holder. Another is to make the entire holder from the same type of materials as the specimen, e.g., a copper holder for pure metals, and rely on thin

varnish coatings and polymer films for electrical insulation. A final possibility is that

of matching the expansion coefficient of the holder material to that of the specimen.

This can be accomplished by the use of filled epoxies [52] or, possibly, graphite-epoxy

composites of suitable composition [53].

12
Chapter 3. PURE METAL RESISTIVITY

Many separate mechanisms influence the electrical resistivity of pure metals and

alloys. Some of these effects become particularly important at low temperatures. In the

following sections, brief descriptions of the various mechanisms that are operative in

producing resistance at low temperatures are presented. Clearly, not all of them are important in every metal or configuration. Solid state physics texts contain the theoretical details; the following sections continue in a pragmatic vein.

3.1 Intrinsic resistivity

The intrinsic resistivity is that of a pure, perfect metal and arises from the scattering of electrons by lattice vibrations (phonons) . No such perfect metal exists, of course,

but at room temperature the intrinsic component is usually the dominant contributor to the

resistivity of pure metals. It is also the most temperature dependent of the mechanisms.

Conceptually, experimental determination of the intrinsic resistivity is quite easy.

One measures p versus T and obtains a curve like that for pure copper in figure 2.1. The

assumptions are made that the resistivity observed at the low temperature end of the curve

is due entirely to other mechanisms and is not temperature dependent. This "residual"

resistivity is then subtracted from all measured values and a new curve is created representing the intrinsic resistivity, p., which now is a true property of the metal. Often,

the curve can be fit to the Bloch-Gruneisen form

K ,T,5 Tl e z dz /o i ^ Pi = 0^0) / 7^772 ^^-^^

by judicious choice of the characteristic temperature, 0. K is a constant. Meaden [1]

explains a variety of methods for determining and Rogers and Powell [54] give an extensive tabulation of values for the integral. Most common metals have values between 300

and 400 K (copper - 330 K, aluminum = 395 K) although some are well outside this range

(beryllium - 1200, sodium - 200). At either end of the temperature range the equation

reduces to a more simple temperature dependence:

p . a T f or T > 0/2, (3.2)

and

p. a T^ for T < 0/10. (3.3)

The linear behavior is almost always observed near room temperature, as it should be,

but often not at very high temperatures. The temperature coefficient of resistance, a, defined as:

13
a = (R^ - R )/Ky (T„ - T ) (3.4)

2 11

is tabulated in the Metals Reference Book [55] for metallic elements and for some alloys

-3 -1

for T^ = 273 K and T„ = 373 K. Common pure metals tend to have values from 4 to 6 x 10 K

-3-1 -3 -1

(copper and aluminum: a-4.2xl0 K ), and alloys generally < 2 x 10 K (AISI 304

-3 -1

stainless steel: a - 1.2 x 10 K )

The low temperature behavior expressed by eq (3.3) is not often observed. The

experiment involves measuring the small difference between two nearly equal numbers,

usually under very difficult experimental conditions. The author has tabulated the

various temperature dependences reported for the resistivity of aluminum below 0/10 [3].

5 2 They range from T to T . Similarly copper has been reported to have a low temperature

fi s behavior from nearly T [56] to T [6] depending on purity. Ferromagnetic metals show

even more complex behavior. In fact, it appears that there may well be no such thing as a_ temperature dependence for a real metal.

The conclusions that can be drawn from the above about the intrinsic resistivity are:

(a) most metals show a linear dependence of p on T near room temperature, which is not

greatly affected by low levels of impurities; (b) departures from linearity often occur at

higher temperatures; (c) below about 20 K there is no dependable expression for the

intrinsic resistivity of most metals; (d) above about 20 K, eq (3.1) usually provides a good

estimate of p . up to room temperature for well behaved metals. One shouldn't be too

concerned about (c), since the resistivity of most useful metals is residual at low

temperatures and the temperature dependent part represents only a very small portion of

the resistivity. For example, at 4 K the intrinsic resistivity of copper is '^3.5 x 10 yf^ cm (RRR = 4.4 X 10 ) and that of aluminum is "^6 x 10~ yfi cm (RRR = 4.0 x 10 ). These values

are far above the best resistivity ratios measured experimentally (see table 1.1).

Anisotropic metals . Metals with noncubic crystal structure show an orientation

dependent resistivity (anisotropy) . Several are indicated in table 1.1. With the exception of tin, they are all hexagonal metals. The ratio between the resistivity parallel to the c axis and that normal to it, as determined from single crystal measurements, is given

in table 3.1. Meaden [1] lists many more in his Table III. He also discusses the manner

in which one should combine the two resistivity values in order to arrive at an average

resistivity, p, for a polycrystalline material. For nearly all real metals, a reasonably

accurate equation is:

p = (2p| +

p| |)/3 (3.5)

which is slightly different from the more often quoted formula used by Hall [5]. A

comprehensive theoretical treatment covering very large anisotropics and resulting in more accurate (and significantly more complex) equations is presented by Hashin and Shtrikman

[58a].

Anisotropy effects must be expected when rolled or drawn product forms are made from

the noncubic metals and alloys. Because of preferential elongation of grains with certain

14
orientations, the material resistivity may differ significantly from what one might expect

from the above discussion.

It is difficult to make any statement about the relative temperature dependence of

the directional resistivities because of the limited data. Nevertheless, it seems that

for most metals, no dramatic change In the ratio p i i /p i occurs on cooling to cryogenic

temperatures. This was observed to be the case by the author in measurements on the

highly anisotropic metal, mercury (p i i /p i = 0.76) [59]. On the other hand the data on

zinc by Aleksandrov and d'Yakov [58] show a variation of '\^20% in the ratio, but it apparently occurs in a random manner.

Table 3.1. Resistivity values of anisotropic metals

Metal Temperature (K) P||/P| Reference

Be 273 1.14 Hall [5]

Mg 273 0.83 Ibid.

78 0.85 Ibid.

Ti 273 1.06 Wasilewski [57]

77 0.90 Ibid.

Sn 273 1.45 Aleksandrov and D'Yakov [58]

77 1.58 Ibid.

4.2 1.35 Ibid.

Zn 273 1.04 Hall [7]

77 1.14 Aleksandrov and D'Yakov [58]

4.2 0.92 Ibid.

Crystallographic transformations . A number of pure metals, and nearly all alloys,

possess more than one stable crystallographic phase. The change from one phase to another

may be caused by a variety of mechanisms such as temperature, pressure, tensile strain, or certain impurities. The subject is one of a great deal of interest in metallurgy and

materials science. There are many excellent general texts, such as the one by Christian

[60]. Most such transitions occur above room temperature, but the higher temperature

phases can often be obtained at room temperature and below by proper (or accidental)

quenching techniques. Here we present a brief introduction to the resistive behavior.

The different phases of a metal may have vastly different resistivity values as indicated by the data for manganese in table 1.1, which show nearly a factor of seven

15
variation in the ice point resistivity. The a phase of manganese is the normal one at

rooiii temperature; the others are higher temperature phases. Transformations seldom

proceed to completion, and as a result, the specimen becomes a mixture of the two phases -

a situation that can lead to bizarre temperature dependences for the resistivity since the

mix of the phases is usually temperature dependent itself. To further complicate the

problem the process, although usually reversible, exhibits a large temperature hysteresis.

The good news is that very few pure metals have crystallographic transformations below

room temperature [61]. Lithium transforms to hexagonal (hep) on cooling to "^77 K, Na at

'^36 K. Face centered cubic (fee) phases can be induced in these metals by deformation.

Tin is tetragonal above 286 K and may have a diamond structure below that; cerium goes

from fee to hep to fee in a complex series of transformations spanning the range from

'^^265 K to 90 K. Gerritsen [19] tabulates the resistivity changes that occur upon transformation for these elements (and many others that undergo phase changes above room

temperature). His data show that tin changes to a semiconductor; and cerium shows a decrease in resistivity as the temperature is lowered through the transition temperature.

No change is shown for lithium or sodium, but a later measurement on lithium by Dugdale

and Gugan [62] shows a large cusp in the resistivity versus temperature curve at about

70 K. The cusp is seen on lowering temperature, but is nowhere near as obvious in the

increasing temperature measurement.

Magnetic transformations . Low temperature magnetic transformations, usually from

paramagnetism to antiferromagnetism to f erromagnetism as the temperature is lowered, occur primarily in the rare earth elements. These transitions result in an odd resistivity

behavior with temperature [63]. Of the more common metals, a-manganese shows the first of

these transitions over the range 70-90 K [64], as does chromium near room temperature

[65]. Figures 3.1 and 3.2, from the references, show the observed resistivity behavior.

Similar transformations are seen in many of the ferrous alloys. Pure soft ferromagnetic

materials, such as iron, show a strong dependence of the low temperature resistivity on measuring current at very low current values. An excellent example is provided by the

work of Takaki and Igaki [66], which shows a variation of RRR from 500 to 170 as the

-2

measuring current density is increased to 6 A mm . One should add that applying a small

longitudinal field of 40 kA m (500 Oe) to the specimen increased the RRR to 2500. This

effect most likely results from the removal of domain walls, which scatter the conduction

electrons. The theory and some experimental work on electron scattering interactions in

magnetic materials, such as electron-electron and electron-magnon scattering are reviewed

by Volkenshtein, Dyakina , and Startsev [67].

3.2 The effect of impurities

The materials considered here are those in which the impurity metals are in solid

solution. In general, these alloys contain less than a few atomic percent of impurities.

These may be ones that occur naturally in the metal or that have been introduced for

experimental purposes. The effect of low levels of impurities on the resistivity of

commercially pure conductors is of primary importance, particularly at low temperatures,

16
60 80 100 120 140

TEMPERATURE, K

Fig. 3.1 Resistive behavior of a-manganese. The metal is antif erromagnetic below '^^100 K

[641.

290 300 310 320

TEMPERATURE, l<

330

Fig. 3.2 Resistive behavior of annealed chromium. The metal is antif erromagnetic below

'V310 K [65].

17
where the impurity resistivity often represents the major contribution to the total. Most

of the experimental work on the resistive contribution of various impurities was done

prior to about 1970. The experiments are not as easy to carry out as one might expect.

The production and proper chemical analysis of dilute alloy specimens is difficult, and

particularly in the case of analysis, few laboratories have adequate facilities. Analysis

below about 0.1 atomic percent is subject to large (20 to 50%) errors for many elements.

The purity of the solvent metal is often known imprecisely. The analysis supplied with

the metal is often a general analysis for that type of metal and not specific to the piece

supplied. Furthermore, precipitation, compound formation, agglomeration and migration of

the solute to grain boundaries can occur even at very low concentrations. These situations are not detected by conventional analysis and always result in a resistivity contribution that is below that for the true solid solution. As an example, the resistivity of

iron in copper at 4 K has been observed to decrease from 1.81 yfi cm/at. ppm (observed up to 100 ppm) to 1.48 ]iQ cm/at. ppm for alloys containing 750 and 690 at. ppm Fe [68]. Magnetic

measurements on the higher content alloys suggest the precipitation of Y~iron.

In the following subsections, the effect of various impurities on the low temperature

resistivity of pure metals and its temperature variation are discussed. The topic is one

that has been reviewed often and well and this treatment relies to a large extent on those

reviews

Impurity resistivity at fixed temperature . The contribution of impurity elements to

the resistivity of pure metals has been studied extensively. Most of the available data

are at room temperature, although a significant amount of low temperature data exists.

Table 3.2 shows aluminum data collected by the author [3] and copper data from the extensive compilation by Welles [69]. Blatt [70] presents a table covering some 40 metals as solutes in copper, silver, gold, aluminum, magnesium, lead, titanium, iron, nickel,

palladium, and platinum. No indication is given of the temperature of measurement or the

data sources. A table of earlier data is also presented by Gerritsen [19]. The data in

the literature in general are not as convincing as one would like. In nearly every case,

measurements by different experimenters result in widely different numbers, often varying

by 20 to 30% for the same alloy. Thus, there is still a need for a comprehensive series

of measurements on alloys that are very well characterized both chemically and metallurgically. Unfortunately, such a task could take a lifetime.

Some general statements can be made: Impurity elements in solution always cause the

resistivity to increase. The increase appears to be always linear with concentration as long as the impurity remains in solution. The contributions of solute elements are additive, allowing calculation of low temperature resistivity from a good chemical analysis. In nearly all instances, the resistive contribution of an impurity measured at room

temperature is within about 5% of the value found at 4 K. The low temperature value is

usually higher.

In some instances, it is possible to increase the amount of impurity in solution far

above the room temperature solubility by very rapid quenching of the alloy. The technique

is described by Ocko , Babic, Krsmik, Girt, and Leontic [71] and in earlier work by the

18
Table 3.2. Resistive contributions of impurities

to copper and aluminum

Impurity Ap(yf2cm/at.%)

element Copper Aluminum

Al 0.95

Ag 0.1 1.0

As 6.7 0.5

Au 0.55

Be 0.65 0.4

Bi 5.7 1.3

Ca 1.0 0.3

Cd 0.3 0.57

Co 6.9 3.6

Cr 4.0 8.4

Cu — 0.83

Fe 9.3 5.4

Ga 1.4 0.24

Ge 3.7 0.79

Hg 1.0

In 1.1

Ir 6.1

Li — 0.86

Mg 0.8 0.46

Mn 2.9 6.9

Mo ~ 7.5

Na — 2 Ni 1.1 1.6

Pb 3.3 1.2

Pd 0.95

Pt 2.0

Po 8.5

Re 4.4

Sb 5.5 0.9

Sc — 5

Se 10.0

Si 3.1 0.72

Sn 3.1 0.9

Te 8

Th 1.8

Ti 16 5.5

V 9.7 6.8

W — 7.3

Zn 0.3 0.23

It 1.3 5.8

19
same group. Their studies indicate that the value of the specific impurity contribution

to the resistivity is maintained to quite high percentages of solute.

The effect of temperature . Near room temperature the dilute alloys maintain the

linear dependence of resistivity on temperature observed for the pure solvent. However,

the slope is seriously affected by the impurity. In particular, dp/dT is found to de- crease with increasing content of magnetic elements and to increase otherwise. This

behavior is discussed by Gerritsen [19]. He presents a graph for copper alloys showing a linear dependence of the temperature coefficient of resistivity on the room temperature

electrical conductivity.

At low temperatures, the resistivity of annealed alloys is nearly always dominated by

the impurity content, and usually this residual resistivity is effectively a constant

below 4 K. It is generally assumed that this constant value is the value at K and it is

designated ^ as p . o The topic of most interest in recent years is the observed deviations from Matthiessen'

s

Rule (DMR) . The rule as usually seen, states that the phonon (intrinsic) resistivity of

the pure solvent, p , and the impurity resistivity due to the solute, p , are additive,

and that the latter contribution is independent of temperature. Therefore, the total

resistivity, p, becomes

p(c, T) = Pp(T) + p^(c) (3.6)

over the entire temperature range (c is the impurity concentration). In general, defects

and surfaces also contribute to p . It has been known almost since its presentation that

o the rule is not exact, but when one considers that it resulted from an experiment on dirty

alloys at near room temperature in the 1860's, it has had an amazing success. The way to make an exact equation is to introduce a third term. A, the deviation term:

p(c, T) = Pp(T) + p^(c) + A(c, T) (3.7)

It is the study of the behavior of A with impurity type and content and with temperature

that is the major topic of interest today. Two excellent and very thorough reviews of the

subject have been published by Bass [72] and by Cimberle, Bobel, and Rizzuto [73]. The

first of these covers deviations due to various defects and size effects as well as impurities. A lengthy treatment of nickel-based alloys is presented by Yamashita and

Hayakawa [74], and a discussion of size effect deviations is given by Houghton and Neighbor

[75]. Figure 3.3, from Bass, shows the various behaviors observed for A from K to room

temperature. His assessment of the available data shows that: at low temperatures, A rises with temperature usually more slowly than p (T) , but often exceeds p (T) in size near 0/10 (0 is the Debye temperature). The hump which may occur at 0,^/'^ to Qrj/^, moves

to lower temperatures and increases in relative size as c decreases. For values of c greater than a few tenths of a percent, A can be represented by a constant plus a linear

20
term in T. Both of these terms are observed to vary linearly with c at constant temperatures. The term linear in T may either increase or decrease with temperature. At high

temperatures, A is usually 5 to 10% of p , but in some cases (cold worked noble-metal

o alloys and magnetic alloys) it has been observed to be equal to p . Table 3.3 indicates

alloy systems that have been studied for deviations from Matthiessen' s Rule. Most of the

information in the table comes from the two reviews mentioned above [72,73].

It is important to stress that, from a strictly technological point of view, these

deviations are most often not large enough to be of concern.

<

/

\

\

\

\\

\

\

\\

\.\s. Op

4 TEMPERATURE

\

Figure 3.3. Types of behavior observed for deviations from Matthiessen' s rule in

alloys as a function of temperature [72].

Kondo effect . This low temperature phenomenon has been extensively investigated in

recent years. The manifestation of the effect is a minimum in the electrical resistivity

of pure metals and alloys containing dilute magnetic solutes. The classical material is

CuFe, but the minimum has been observed in many other systems. The resistivity minima can

occur at any temperature, but most systems show it in the range 2 to 30 K. Again, the

effect is usually very small, although it can be a serious impediment to the creation of

the constant resistance alloys for low temperature applications described in Chapter 4. The effect arises as the result of an interaction between the magnetic moment of a localized impurity and the average moment of nearby conduction electrons. The review

article by Daybell and Steyert [76] still represents the best compilation of information

on the subject, although many papers have appeared since then.

Basically the interaction is thought to occur as follows: below a critical temperature, T, , a "quasi-bound state" forms between the moments, characterized by an antiferromagnetic exchange interaction in these alloys, i.e., the conduction electron spins shield

21
the impurity moment. The temperature T depends exponentially on the exchange constant J,

so that very small changes in J can cause large variations in T, . Values for T have been

K k

observed over five orders of magnitude for various transition elements in copper. For

Table 3.3. Alloy systems on which studies of deviations from

Matthiessen's rule have been made

SOLVENT METAL

Ag Al Au Be Cd Co Cr Cs Cu Fe Ga In K Li Mg Ni Na Pb Pd Pt Sn W Zn

XX X X X

X X XXXX

Ag X X X

Al X X X X As X X Au X X X X Bi X Cd X Ce

Co X X X X X Cr X X X X X Cu X X X Er

Fe X X X X Ga X Gd

Ge X X X Hf X Hg

In X X X Ir X

Li

Mg X X X Mn X X X X X Mo X X Nb X X Nd

Ni X X X Os X X Pb

Pd X X X Pt X X X Re X X Rh X X Ru X X Sb X X

Si X X Sn X X X X Ta X X X X Ti X X TlV X X X X W X X Zn X X X Zr X X X

X

Data on solvents printed in italics are available with unknown solute elements in some

instances.

22
iron, the temperature is most likely around 30 K — its determination is not as straightforward experimentally as it is theoretically. It is interesting that the experimental

effects of this quasi-bound state were known for many years before the successful theoretical treatment by Kondo [77]. The effect of this interaction on the resistivity is to cause an increase in the resistive contribution per impurity, Ap/c, as the quasi-bound

state forms, i.e., as the temperature is lowered. This is not a sharp step, but the value

of Ap/c is constant above and below it. The step height is considered to be impurity

independent and has a value '^^0.14 n9. cm/at. ppm for copper-based alloys. The effect of

this step on the measured (i.e., total) resistivity of the metal is to give the observed

minimum in the resistivity versus temperature curve of the alloy at near T, . It is

interesting that this Kondo minimum is seen in nearly all "pure" copper — indicative of

its rather high iron content. Internal oxidation of the iron impurities in copper as described below, removes the Kondo minimum entirely. Also, a temporary breakup of the

quasi-bound state can be caused by application of a strong magnetic field.

Gases as impurities . Gases occur to a limited extent as elemental impurities in

metals. Oxygen is the most common. It occurs, for example, even in "oxygen free" copper

at 10-20 ppm. Gas analysis is very difficult at these levels and the content is seldom

stated by the supplier. The contribution to the resistivity is of the same order as that

of metallic impurities. As an example, Hess and Pawlek [78] report a value of

5.3 \iQ cm/at. % for oxygen in copper.

Nitrogen is added as a strengthening element in various modern stainless steels that are used extensively for low temperature structures. Almost no data exist on the effect

of this addition on the resistivity, but one would expect it to give only a small contribution to the already very high values for these metals.

Hydrogen in metals causes serious embrittlement problems. It is not a naturally

occurring impurity, but often is encountered in high temperature industrial processes.

Analysis of hydrogen content is very difficult and essentially no low temperature specific

resistivity data exist.

Thin films of alloys of alkali metals with rare gases have been made to study the

physics of metal-insulator transitions [79]. At low impurity levels, the contribution to the low temperature resistivity is normal (2.2 yfi cm/at. % for krypton in rubidium and

2.8 yQ cm/at. % for xenon in cerium). At ^^^40 at.% gas the resistivity at 7 K is only

^100 ]iQ, cm for both alloys, but at high percentages of the gas (>75 at.%), the resistivity

exceeds 10 \i9, cm. The addition of specific gases under controlled conditions of temperature and pressure can be used to greatly decrease the low temperature resistivity of metals. The major

application of the technique has been to effectively remove the residual iron from copper.

This is accomplished by causing the oxygen to form compounds with the iron, primarily

Fe 0, , which agglomerate as relatively large particles even in very dilute alloys (<4 ppm

Fe) . By this technique, copper single crystals with residual resistivity ratios near

65 000 and polycrystalline wires with ratios of 20 000 have been produced. These ratios

are much higher than the approximately 2000 ratio of the highest purity unoxidized copper.

23
The efficacy of the technique is illustrated in figure 3.4, which shows the results of 4 K

resistivity measurements on a series of dilute CuFe alloys [80]. Internal oxidation has

also been used to increase the residual resistivity ratio of gold, silver, and tantalum.

The techniques and a historical review have been published by the author [81].

150

E

o

a 100

CO

GO

LU

CC

50

VACUUM ANNEALED

OXYGEN ANNEALED

20 40 60 80

IRON CONCENTRATION, atomic ppm

100

Figure 3.4. Electrical resistivity of CuFe alloys before and after internal oxidation.

3.3 Defect resistivity

Defects in crystal structure of metals and alloys can give significant contributions

to the low temperature resistivity. In some metals, the available purity is such that

defects represent the major contribution to the residual resistivity. The simple act of

winding a wire around a sample holder can decrease the residual resistivity ratio by a factor of two or more. Defect resistivity is a topic dear to the heart of theorists, and

many texts, such as Ziman [82], go into great detail on the calculation of the contributions of the various defect types. Here we present a brief description of the defects, some comments on how they are introduced into metals, and the resistivity modifications

that they cause.

24
The resistive contribution of most defects is not strongly temperature dependent,

although deviations from Matthiessen' s Rule (mentioned above) do occur. Temperature still

plays an important role, however. Defects formed at 4 K tend to stay put in the lattice,

but as the temperature is raised, the various types start to anneal out, giving a so- called recovery curve for the defect resistivity. This recovery usually starts well below

room temperature.

Defects and their production . Defects are usually grouped according to their dimensionality. The principal point defects are vacancies and interstitials . The term interstitial refers to an atom of the host lattice located off a normal lattice site. Other

atoms, notably gases, may also exist in interstitial positions. Depending on the method

of production, vacancies can occur alone (Schottky defects) or in vacancy-interstitial pairs

(Frenkel defects). The former are found primarily in quenched specimens, and the latter in

irradiated specimens. The literature on these defects is enormous. The book by Seeger,

Schumacher, Shilling, and Diehl [83] is suggested as a starting point. Direct experimental

determination of defect concentrations is not possible. Typical experimental values quoted

are in the range 0.01 to 0.1 at.%. The topic of radiation damage effects in metals is one

of great interest, both at high temperatures, because of fission reactor problems, and at very low temperatures, because of the use of pure metals to protect (stabilize) superconductors in fusion devices [84]. Point defects are the first to anneal out of a metal with

increasing temperature and the annealing may start at temperatures as low as '^'10 K. Dislocations are line defects, but their usual configuration involves loops, clusters,

and tangles. Creating and measuring a known concentration of dislocations in a metal is

very difficult. The units of dislocation density are lines per square centimeter, or -2 cm . Dislocations occur naturally in all real metals, and their concentration can be

increased somewhat by quenching and increased a great amount by deformation. In annealed

aluminum or copper, for example, the dislocation density tends to be "^-10 lines/cm , although with care densities many orders of magnitude lower can be achieved. After severe

12 2 deformation, this nimiber may reach 10 lines/cm . There is a massive amount of literature

on this topic also. Nabarro [85] discusses all aspects of dislocations and includes a brief section on their effect on electrical properties. Dislocations are relatively

difficult to anneal out of metals and, in most common metals, temperatures well above room temperature are necessary for complete recovery.

The common planar defects are stacking faults and grain boundaries. Stacking faults occur in conjunction with dislocations and, in fact, their existence was first proposed to account for discrepancies observed between theory and experiment on dislocation resistivity

in fee metals. The units of stacking fault (and grain boundary) density are those of

surface area per unit volume or cm . Stacking faults are most often introduced by

quenching, although deformation will also suffice. In an annealed metal, their density

tends to be less than a few hundred inverse centimeters. Both Nabarro [85] and Ziman [82]

present extensive discussions of stacking faults.

The important parameter for grain boundary resistivity is the boundary area per unit

volume or S/V. The determination of S/V from observation of a single surface of a speci25
men is not entirely straightforward with any of the several existing techniques. Grain

size in metals can cover the range from a few tens of micrometers to many centimeters

leading to S/V values of 10 to 1000 cm . The introduction of controlled grain sizes in

pure metals is usually performed by deformation followed by recrystallization and subsequent grain growth. Specimen size limits the maximum grain size achievable in most pure

metals. Pure aluminum wires, for example, will grow a "bamboo" structure of grains about

the size of the wire diameter, whereas in copper the grains tend to be somewhat smaller

and randomly located.

It should be reemphasized that the measurement of defect density is not at all simple

for any of the defect types and errors of a factor of 2 or 3 may occur. The separate

defect types never have the courtesy to appear alone and separation of the resistive

contributions is also a significant source of uncertainty. Furthermore, the presence of

impurity elements may have an effect on the type and number of defects introduced by a particular procedure.

The resistive contribution of defects . From a theoretical point of view, the problem

in calculating the resistivity contribution from isolated defects is the evaluation of

what fraction of the resistivity is due to the core of the defect and what fraction is due

to the surrounding strain field. There is very little agreement among authors. When the more realistic case of combined defects, such as dislocation loops containing stacking

faults, is considered, the relative contribution of each defect type becomes a matter for

debate, again with little agreement. When very large numbers of defects are introduced,

such as in dislocation tangles, the contribution per unit defect is expected to decrease.

One point on which all theoretical calculations agree is that the scattering from the

extended defects is anisotropic and has at least some component that gives small angle

scattering [86]. Because of this, the resistivity contribution should be somewhat temperature dependent and this, indeed, appears to be the case experimentally. A further

impediment to theory-experiment correlation is the refusal of the defects to occur in the same form from one experiment to the next. Linear dislocations and dislocation loops

containing stacking faults are most common. The stacking faults may, however, occur as three-dimensional defects, such as multilayers or, at least in copper, as tetrahedra.

Special conditions may also produce helical dislocations or other configurations. The

general conclusion is that the best available theoretical calculations agree with experiment to within an order of magnitude.

The experimentally determined vacancy resistivities reported for aluminum center

around 2.6 \iQ, cm/at. % with about a 40% spread [3], and Blatt [70] suggests a value of 1.0

to 1.5 ]i9. cm/at. % for copper. In each case the interstitial resistivity appears to be

about 1/2 to 2/3 of the value for vacancies. Theoretical copper values reported by Welles

[69] are 0.4 to 1.8 ]i9. cm/at. % for vacancies and 0.2 to 10.5 pQ cm/at. % for interstitials

Experimental dislocation resistivities in both aluminum and copper tend to be

-13 3

3 ± 1 X 10 yf^ cm , with the lower limit applying at 4 K. Note that multiplication by

the dislocation density is necessary to obtain an actual resistivity. Again, there is a

26
-13 3 wide variation of values ranging from 0.2 to 9 x 10 yf^ cm found in the literature on aluminum. Values for several other metals are given in table 3.4.

Data on stacking fault resistivities are not as plentiful. The value for aluminum is

apparently 2 to 5 x 10 yfi cm , and that for copper, 10 to 10 \iQ cm . The lower

value is usually more appropriate at 4 K, but it is not the temperature dependence that is

responsible for the range of the data. Again, determination of an actual resistivity

requires multiplication by the stacking fault density.

Grain boundary resistivity values have been measured only occasionally [88] and

disagreement over the proper method of determining S/V for bulk specimens puts any mea- surement in doubt by at least a factor of two. For copper and aluminum the contribution

— (^ 9 — 1 appears to be 10 yQ cm . Multiplication by S/V (in cm ) is necessary to derive a true

resistivity. Room temperature values appear to be about 20% higher than those at 4 K.

Table 3.4. Dislocation resistivity in metals^

Material Dislocation Resistivity (ufi cm )

Ag 3.4, 2.0 x lO"""-^

Au 3.5 X 10"^^

Ni 9.4 X 10"^^

Fe 20 X lO"^-^

-13

K 4x10

a-brass 18 x lO"""^

a. Data compiled by Barbee [8] from the literature.

3.5 Size effects

The increasing applications of very pure metals to cryogenic magnet construction

brings the consideration of size effects very much into the realm of technology. Very

pure aluminum and copper conductors may have electron mean free paths on the order of a millimeter and, since many conductors are of this size, better than half of the resistivity

at low temperatures would be due to boundary scattering. Many new applications are being

found for conducting composites, both as commercial superconductors and as high strengthhigh conductivity normal metals. In these materials, the interfiber spacing may be such

that scattering of the electrons from the boundaries has a significant effect on the

resistance. Also, new uses are being found for classical thin metal films of ym size in

deposited circuits, very low temperature thermometry, and more exotic applications, such

as dc transformers, that make use of the superconducting properties of aluminum films.

Here we will concentrate on the relatively large conductors.

27
The general topic of dc size effects in metals is the subject of an excellent review

by Brandli and Olsen [89]. Three parameters appear at least implicitly in all dc size

effects theories: the ratio K = d/2, , of the characteristic specimen dimension to the

bulk electronic mean free path; the specularity parameter, p, which is the fraction of

electrons specularly reflected from the surface; and the product Pu^u ^°^ ^^^ bulk metal,

which should be a constant independent of size or temperature. This product is given in

free electron theory by

2

p,2,, = mv^/e n (3.8)

b b 1

where n is the free electron concentration, v is the Fermi velocity, and e and m are the

electronic charge and mass, respectively. If one considers the real Fermi surface of a metal, one arrives at a more realistic (and more complex) form for the conductivity in

terms of an integral over the surface of the momentum-dependent mean free path. The

simpler expression above will suffice for our purposes. Also, in the following presentation p is assumed to be zero, corresponding to diffuse scattering at the surface. The

exact value of p and its dependence on various parameters is a topic on which there is

considerable debate. The experimental literature indicates that zero is as good a value

as any for calculating correction terms, particularly when one considers the uncertainties

in the other parameters.

The parameter P, 2, , is not truly temperature independent for real metals, i.e.,

deviations from Matthiessen' s rule occur [75]. Furthermore, the value determined by

different types of experiments is highly variable. Brandli and Olsen [89] list values of

-12 2

p £ for a variety of pure metals. These vary from 3.5 to 68 x 10 Q. cm , with most

— 199 — 199 — 19''

between 6 and 20 x 10 9, cm . Values of 6.0 x 10 f^ cm for aluminum and 6.6 x 10 f] cm

for copper at 4 K are representative of the literature. Use of this number is really the

only easy method of determining the electron mean free path.

There are many formulas available in the literature for calculating the size effect

resistivity. The earliest relationships, which prove to be adequate in most instances,

are due to a suggestion of Nordheim [90] for wires

p/p^ = 1 + 1/K (3.9)

and the Fuchs [91] relationships for films, which like most of their descendants, can be

written simply o conductivity areonly in the extreme limits of K (= d/l ). The equations, in terms of

o/a^ - 0.75 K £n K

"*", K<<1 (3.10)

b

o/a^ = 1 - 3/8 K K»l (3.11)

b

The specularity parameter, p, appears in the more general form of these equations, but

here it has been set to zero as discussed above.

28
Size effects can be of importance in the world of low temperature conductor applications. Figure 3.5 shows the measured versus the bulk residual resistivity ratio for

copper wires of quite reasonable size. One should also note that a magnetic field applied

to a metal showing a significant size effect may cause a dramatic decrease in the measured

low temperature resistivity [89]

.

20x10'

o

-a

00

CDE

CO

I

CM

15 -

10 -

5 -

25x10'

R(273 K)/R(4 K) bulk

Figure 3.5. Measured versus bulk residual resistance ratio for copper wires of

various sizes. Calculation uses (pii).bulk

= 0.66 X 10 "'''" fi cm .

29
Chapter 4. ALLOY RESISTIVITY

The alloys of concern here are the nondilute mixtures of metals. In almost all of

these alloys, the lattice resistivity is significantly smaller than the temperatureindependent components and, thus, there is often not much difference between the resistivity measured at room temperature and that measured near 4 K. In general, however, the

variety of behavior exhibited by alloys is astonishing in its diversity.

4.1 Well-behaved alloys

As anyone familiar with the workings of Murphy's Law might predict, there are few

alloys that fall into this category. In the most classic cases, such as AgAu and CuAu,

the component metals are mutually soluble across the entire range of composition. The

resistive behavior of these two alloys is shown in figure 4.1 (from Bardeen [92], reporting earlier data) and figure 4.2 [93] respectively. Apparently no recent measurements

covering the entire composition range have been made on any binary alloy system. Bardeen

also presents curves from the early literature showing similar behavior for InPb , PtPd and

KRb . These alloys are homogeneous solid solutions with a random distribution of atoms.

As figure 4.1 implies, the soluble, non-ordered alloys have both a temperature dependent

and a residual contribution to their resistivity. The residual resistivity ratio over the

mid-range compositions is not large. A recent measurement on an Ag25%Au alloy [94] gave

RRR = 1.3 and it looks from figure 4.1 like this value is roughly maintained over the

entire mid-range. The residual resistivity can be described by Nordheim's rule

p a x(l - x) (4.1)

where x represents the fraction of one of the constituent atoms. Note that the resistance

change with composition is very large even for these simple alloys.

Other alloys that fall in the well behaved category are those with a solid solution

phase which covers a relatively large range of composition. Of the technically important

metals, the CuZn alloys containing <35 wt.% Zn are in this class. These are the classical

brasses. Figure 4.3 is from the data of Henry and Schroeder [95] on alloys made from pure

copper (RRR '^1300) . The resistivity ratio here is also quite small above a few percent

zinc. Their figure 6 shows a linear temperature dependence of the resistivity for all the

alloys above 40 to 50 K. Another system, not strictly an alloy, that exhibits uncomplicated resistive behavior

is heterogeneous mixtures of mutually insoluble metals, such as PbZn or ZnCd, in which the

two elements each form small crystallites. The resistivity is an average of values for

the two pure metals and is monotonic across the composition range - it is not often

linear. The temperature dependence should also, of course, be an average. The PbSn

solders are of this type, but the solid is more complex, consisting of a eutectic mixture

(also found in ZnCd) and crystallites of lead with up to 25% Sn at the lead-rich end.

Regardless, the observed resistive behavior is as stated above.

30
Figure 4.1 Resistivity of the

well-behaved alloy

system AgAu [92]

.

25 50 75

ATOMIC PERCENT Au

100

a

5.

CO

CO

LU

cc

Figure 4.2. Resistivity at 20°C

of the alloy system

CuAu. Open circles

are from the wellbehaved disordered

alloy quenched from

650°C. The closed

circles show the

effect of ordering

introduced by a 200°C

anneal, and the +, the effect of a furnace-cool of the

alloys [93].

25 50 75

ATOMIC PERCENT Au

100

31
Figure A. 3. Behavior of the a-phase

resistivity of brass [95]

10 20 30

ATOMIC PERCENT ZINC

40

4.2 Alloys with ordering and amorphous alloys ^^

Some disordered binary alloys can be ordered by annealing well above room temperature. When this occurs, the two types of atoms each form their own separate crystallographic structure within the alloy. Thus, the A atoms will be preferentially located in one sublattice and the B atoms in another. This ordering results in a lowering of the

resistivity at all temperatures. The classical alloy system in this group is CuAu. The

effect of ordering on the resistivity is shown in figure 4.2. The highest degree of

ordering occurs at the compositions CuAu and Cu„Au . The existence of the ordered sublattices has been confirmed by x-ray techniques. To the best of our knowledge, there are

no alloys which undergo this type of ordering below room temperature - certainly none of

technological importance.

1 These are not intermetallic compounds. They do not precipitate from the alloy and they

do not have a high resistivity.

32
As one might expect, the resistivities of ordered alloys show a greater temperature

dependence than do their disordered counterparts. There is only a limited amount of

information available on this topic. Cohen and Bever [96] report RRR = 4.0 (p = 4.27 yfi cm

at 293 K) for ordered Cu Au and RRR =1.2 (p = 11.32 ]in cm at 293 K) for the disordered

alloy. The latter value is also indicated by the data of Varotto and Vidoz [97]. Similar

ordering behavior was observed in alloys of AgMg by Gangulee and Bever [98] with RRR

values '^Jl3 for ordered AgMg. There is no listing in the literature of alloys which

exhibit ordering. The most comprehensive treatment is not very recent [99]. The general

field of order-disorder phenomena is reviewed by Guttman [100]. Low temperature data have

been reported for NiFe (>65 at.%Ni), CuPt, B AgZn, g AgCd, and B brass. In the last three

materials, the occurrence of other alloy phases tends to complicate any attempt to observe

the ordering [101]

Alloys of the form Au.X, where X stands for various transition elements, have been

studied [102,103]. These alloys show both an atomic ordering at high temperature and a magnetic ordering, which usually occurs below room temperature. The resistivity always

decreases below room temperature with a change to a steeper slope below the magnetic

transition. According to Toth et al. [102] residual resistance ratios tend to be around 2 to 3 and the alloy resistivities at 4 K vary from '^5 yfi cm for Au.Mn to 145 yQ cm for

Au.V. On the other hand. Maple and Luo [103] report 95 \j.Q. cm at 4 K (RRR = 1.7) for the

ordered alloy Au.V. The same alloy in the disordered state shows a slowly increasing

resistance with decreasing temperature to about 40 K, followed by a slight decrease to 4 K

(p = 217.5 yfi cm at 4 K, RRR = 0.96).

Amorphous alloys are generally thin films deposited on cold substrates. Much of the

existing work has been done on semiconducting or magnetic alloys, usually containing at

least one nonmetallic component. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the

resistivity of a number of these alloys are reported by Cochrane and Strom-Olsen [104].

Measurements on the low temperature resistivity of amorphous binary metallic alloys have

been made by Korn and co-workers. A review of the work on alloys of gallium, tin, lead,

and bismuth with the noble metals is given by Korn, Pfiefle, and Zibold [105]. Nearly all

such alloys have high resistivities ('^'50 to 150 \j.Q. cm at 4 K) and residual resistivity

ratios close to unity. The resistivity may rise or fall with decreasing temperature

depending on the alloy makeup and the specific elements involved: amorphous CuSn alloys

show a resistivity drop with decreasing temperature below 40% Cu, a peak at near 40 K for

40 to 60% Cu, and a rise at higher values. The residual resistivity increases with

increasing copper content. A more recent paper [106] describes measurements on amorphous

CuFe alloy films covering the entire composition range. Residual resistivities range from

16 yfi cm for unalloyed copper to a peak of '^-205 yQ cm at 80% Fe. The slope of the p-T curve is always positive and is low up to '^'10% Fe but then increases sharply to a maximum

at '^307o Fe.

33
4.3 Alloys with phase transitions or precipitation

A large number of alloys, both ferrous and nonferrous, undergo phase transformations

below room temperature. These are usually martensitic transformations and the resulting

material is called martensite. The transformations are a dif fusionless shear type and the

resulting martensite takes the form of plates, sheets, and needles, with an accompanying

macroscopic shape change or change in surface relief. The transformation may occur spontaneously upon cooling below a characteristic temperature M , or it may be induced by

stress below a characteristic temperature M . Thermally induced transformations are at

least partially reversible, but often with a large hysteresis. Martensitic transformations are common in many materials of technological interest, such as stainless steels,

brasses (3)» titanium alloys, lithium, and sodium, to name only a few. The physics and

metallurgy of the transformation are treated in many texts. A survey of the literature

regarding specific low temperature transformations is given by Reed and Breedis [107].

With so many alloys involved, one shouldn't expect a great deal of uniformity in the

resistive behavior and, in fact, that is what is observed. Quite a few materials, however, show resistance-temperature curves like those shown in figure 4.4 [108] for 3-brass.

The normal decrease of resistivity with temperature is interrupted by the transformation.

650

1

. 1 . 11 11 11 11 1 1 11

fi BRASS //~

E

o

• 600 ^^—^^^ / 3. 13% DEFORMATION/ /

1^

>

1— / / /\ /~

UJ

cc 550

/ /L^'^ \ 0% DEFORMATION^^

/ / \ 1 n 1 1 125 150 175 200 225 250

TEMPERATURE, K

275

Figure 4.4. The effect of martensitic transformation on the

resistivity of 6 brass [108].

34
I

The resistivity increases while the higher resistance martensite is forming, followed by a continuation of the decrease to the residual resistivity value (not reached in the experiment shown). The warming curves show the reversibility of the thermally induced martensite.

The deformation martensite remains. Note that the resistivity values are quite high.

Another special group of alloys is that in which age-hardening occurs due to the slow

precipitation of particles of a second phase relatively near room temperature. A number

of commercial aluminum alloy are of this type. Whether the resistance initially increases

or decreases upon isothermal annealing seems to depend on the temperature and, of course,

on the material. Federighi and Cezesara [109] show both types of behavior for an Al 5% Mg

alloy. The resistivity decreases on annealing at T > 20°C and increases for T < 20°C

(down to -40°C). The increase in resistivity is taken as an indication of the formation

of Guninier-Preston zones prior to the precipitation [110]. One would expect that the

resistivity at all temperatures will ultimately decrease as the precipitation goes to completion, and this is implied by the isochronal annealing experiments by Federighi and

Cezesara [109] as well as by Bardeen [92]. Low temperature resistivity data have been

reported on AlZn, AlAg, AlCu, CuBe , and AlMn alloys.

4.4 Magnetic alloys

There are two groups of interest here: alloys in which a transition element is

dissolved in a noble metal and the magnetic ferrous alloys, such as the steels. The

alloys of the latter group usually show only a small temperature dependence of the resistivity; most often a slight decrease with decreasing temperature.

The magnetic alloys involving a noble metal and a transition element show ferromagnetic

behavior at some concentration of the magnetic element. The Curie temperature is concentration dependent and may fall well below room temperature. Three alloy systems have been

investigated in some detail: CuNi , AgPd , and AuNi . Of these, the first has been the most

studied. The behavior of the resistivity with alloy concentration is still quite regular

at all temperatures as shown in figure 4.5 and figure 4.6 and, as expected, the resistivity

ratios are not high. They are highest for the ferromagnetic compositions. Within this

range, however, a wide variety of behavior is observed as the temperature is decreased.

The rate at which the resistivity drops with decreasing temperature always increases below

the Curie temperature. This is illustrated by the CuNi data of Svensson [114], which has

been quoted by nearly everyone, and that of Clinton, Tyler, and Luo [117] on AuNi, which

shows Curie temperatures to below 4 K. The nonmagnetic alloys in these series show maxima

and minima as well as general increases in resistivity with decreasing temperature [118]

.

Furthermore, the behavior of a given specimen may change with time of storage at room temperature [112] and is strongly affected by degree and type of deformation [119]. While

very interesting from the viewpoint of metal physics, these varieties of behavior usually

cause only a small relative change in the resistivity - on the order of several percent.

35
Figure 4.5.

The variation of resistivity

with composition for the

magnetic alloy CuNi. Legend:

0, A and solid curves, Iguchi

and Udagawa [111]; +, Legvold

et al. [112]; •, Krupkowski

and de Haas [113]. Agreement

with Svensson's [114] data is

excellent.

20 40 60 80 100

ATOMIC PERCENT COPPER

Figure 4.6. The variation of resistivity with composition

for the magnetic alloy

AgPd. Sources of data

are references [115]

and [116].

20 40 60 80

ATOMIC PERCENT Pd

100

36
4.5 Zero temperature-coefficient alloys

A surprisingly large number of low temperature applications require alloy wires that

have been specifically designed for minimum resistivity variation over a certain range of

temperature. For wires used in electrical heaters for calorimetry and thermal conductivity experiments, the entire range of temperature from 4 K to room is involved. A 1 to 5%

variation in resistivity is acceptable. Wires used in temperature controllers for galvanomagnetic measurements, such as magnetoresistance, should be stable from 2 to 20 K, and

should show as little variation with magnetic field strength as possible (see section

5.1). Variations of less than 2% are usually adequate. A wide range of new applications

of the Josephson effect in voltage and current standards and comparators [120] requires

resistance alloys with part-per-million (ppm) stability over a temperature range of a few

degrees around 4 K. Magnetic field effects are frequently of concern in these devices.

Finally, experiments at temperatures below 1 K often need special heaters with a low

resistance coefficient. There is only limited information available in this very low

temperature range. The paper by Cieloszyk, Cote, Salinger, and Williams [121] should be

consulted for more information.

Materials usually employed for the room temperature to 4 K range tend to be the

classical resistance alloys: constantan, manganin, nickel-chromium and others. Some of

these alloys and their properties are described in table 4.1. These materials tend to

have very high room temperature resistivities and to show very little change in resistance

Table 4.1. Low temperature properties of resistance wires

Wi re Nominal Composition

(wt.%)

Nominal Resistivity at

{\iQ cm)

Percent Change Magnetoresistance

to 4 K Ap/p at 4K and B {%) (%)

References and Comments

Evanohm

Karma

Constantan

Manganin

NiCr

PtW

75Ni,20Cr,2.5Al,2.5Cu

76Ni,20Cr,Fe,Al

57Cu,43Ni

84Cu,12Mn,4Ni

92Pt,8W

(assumed wt.%)

Silicon Bronze 96Cu,3Si,lZn

Phosphor Bronze 95Cu,5P

134

76.4

128

133

4927.7

48

66

28.3

16.1

-0.9 — Furakawa, Reilly.and Saba [122] -0.76 — Hust [123] -0.9(approx.) to 5 T Lerner and Daunt [124] +0.03-0.66 to 0.6T Woollam [125] Actual Ap/p depends +0.23-0.83 to 18T on sample

-0.9

-6-7

-10

-14

-23

-4.6 to 5 T

+0.002

+0.024 to 9.5 T

+0.005 to 14 T

+0.007 to 14 T

Furakawa, Reilly.and Saba [122]

Ibid. Lerner and Daunt [124]

Furakawa, et al . [122]

Reported by: Cimberle, Michi,

Mori, Rizzuto, Siri, and Vaccarone [126]

Giauque, Lyon, Hornumg, and Hopkins

[127] . p and Ap reported by Cimberle, Michi, et al. [126]

Feldman, Talley, Rojeski, Void, and

Wool am [128]. CuSi is not a commercial alloy.

Ibid.

37
with decreasing temperature to about 250 K. Below that temperature, each alloy shows a decrease in resistivity, but the amount, as shown in the table, varies greatly. The

magnetoresistance is small in nearly all instances. Its actual behavior with field varies

from linear, with either sign, to quadratic to very complex, but there seems to be no significant dependence on the relative orientation of the magnetic field and the wire.

The alloys used for ppm stability applications near 4 K are quite different from the

classical resistance alloys just described. They tend to be not as highly alloyed and,

thus, have somewhat lower resistivities, on the order of 2 to 20 yfi cm. Furthermore, most

of the alloys are not available commercially. Copper- and aluminum-based alloys are most

often used for a variety of reasons: (a) they tend to have shallow Kondo minima in their

resistivity versus temperature curves in the region of interest due to natural or added

magnetic impurities; (b) starting metal is available with the required high purity; (c)

their magnetoresistance can be made quite small by proper alloying, and (d) they are materials that tend to be both strong and reasonably ductile, thereby facilitating the

production of wire.

Investigation of aluminum-based alloys have been recently reported by Warnecke and

Kose [129] and by Cimberle, Michi, et al. [126]. The first of these describes a commercial A£5Mg alloy showing a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of '^^2 x 10 K

-4 -1

between 2 and 4 K. The remainder of the alloys exhibit TCR values below 10 K over

this range with many '\^10 K . The magnetoresistance of the A£5Mg alloy at 4 K was

'^-7 X 10 T~ , whereas the 10~ K~ alloys showed ^7 x 10~ T~ , both to high fields. At

very low fields, <0.1 T, the sensitivity is apparently much smaller.

Three copper-based alloys have been investigated in detail: phosphor-bronze [126],

CuGe [130], and silicon bronze [131]. The 2 to 4 K TCR values all are 2 to 4 x 10~ K~

(the CuGe and bronze TCR's are negative), and the silicon bronze magnetoresistance is

"^10 T . Similar resistivity behavior has been reported for CuNi and CuPt alloy resistors by March and Thurley [132], One of their CuNi alloys shows Ap/p < 1 x 10 between

1.5 and 4.2 K.

38
I

Chapter 5. EXTERNAL RESISTIVE MECHANISMS

Magnetic fields, pressure, and stress can have significant effects on resistivity.

These effects appear stronger at low temperatures because the intrinsic (phonon) resistivity component is so small.

There are many ways in which a magnetic field can affect the transport properties of

solids and each one of them has its own name. As a group they are termed galvanomagnetic

properties. Blatt [70] lists 16 of these in his Table 7.7 and all solid state physics

texts discuss at least some of them in great detail. Galvanomagnetic effects in the

anisotropic metals are the subject of a recent review by Hurd [133]. From a low temperature electrical applications point of view, only magnetoresistance, Hall effect, and

magnetothermopower are of interest and, of these, only the former is a common concern. Effects caused by time-varying magnetic fields are also important, but they are covered in

Chapter 6. The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the resistivity has been investigated for a large number of conductors. It is seldom a problem in applications, but we have included

it here since questions sometimes arise. Stress, on the other hand is a serious problem

in nearly all conductor applications. Fatigue effects, too, must often be considered.

5.1 Magnetoresistance

All nonmagnetic metals show an increase in electrical resistivity with increasing

magnetic field. This magnetoresistance effect has been one of the most extensively

studied of the transport properties and data exist on nearly all pure metals and a great

many alloys. On copper alone there were some 60 papers published through 1972 and several

more since then. The primary reason for the interest in this phenomenon is its ability to indicate the topology and connectivity of the Fermi surface from the transverse magnetoresistance (field applied normal to the electric current) of single crystals, and the

anisotropy of the electron scattering from the longitudinal magnetoresistance. These

measurements are invariably performed at liquid helium temperatures because the magnitude

of the effects scales with the product cot (co is the cyclotron frequency and is proportional to the field, H; t is the relaxation time and scales roughly with p ). A low

temperature experiment is necessary to achieve the required condition got > 1 with real

metal samples. These topics are covered in detail in most of the texts already mentioned.

Here the behavior of the magnetoresistance of polycrystalline metals used in various

technical applications at low temperatures is the concern. These metals are used primarily as conductors of electricity; the highly alloyed metals used in structural applications usually show a negligible magnetoresistance. It should be stressed that magnetoresistance is a phenomenon which is of importance only at low temperature and only for pure

metals. A measurable effect at 4 K, with the magnetic fields usually available, requires

resistivity ratios on the order of 10 to 100 for the common metals.

39
The observed behavior of many polycrystalline metals can be described by an empirical

rule developed by Kohler [134]. The mathematical form of the rule is:

Ap/p = f (H/p ) o o (5.1)

where H is the applied field and p is the resistivity at zero field. The function f for

polycrystalline metals is single- valued, increases monotonically and depends only on the

metal and the relative orientation of the field and current. Note that the magnetoresistance, therefore, does not depend on impurity content or temperature, except as they

affect p . Kohler diagrams are log- log plots of observed data. Usually the plot is of

Ap/p versus H'RR(T) where RR(T) is the resistivity ratio p(273 K)/p(T). When a number of

metals are compared, a reduced Kohler plot is often used in which p (273 K) is replaced by

the resistivity at the Debye temperature. One such plot, which has appeared in nearly

every review (see Fig. 46 of [1]) presents data for a large number of metals. The data

are quite old and a reevaluation is needed, but the general behavior is as predicted.

Copper shows an amazing degree of agreement with Kohler's rule. A plot made from the

author's data [6] is shown as figure 5.1. The 200 data points used represent temperature

from 4 to 20 K, fields to 9 T, and residual resistivity ratios from 10 to 10000. There is some evidence that extended defects, with their temperature dependent resistivity, may

cause deviations from this plot. Also, radiation damage studies have shown deviations,

especially at low fields [135]. Note that field- induced resistance increases by a factor

of 100 are possible in very pure copper!

1

1 ll<| 1 Ml 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1

1 1 II 1 1 1 1 M

o 1 1 _ cc%m' — COPPER /1

LU - / L

C_) — y

s

~ <

- ^

^ ~ 1— >^

00 y^

CO , y^

LU 10^ ^ —

3

cc z ^ I CD ~" _ 1— —

LJJ _ - 2

CD

< _ - IE y LU iqO — / -^

oo - X — cc

— y z LU ^ — > - / - CO Jf z

< - // - cc

h— // 1 1 . , in-1 /1 1 111 1 1 1

1 III 1

1 1 1 Mil 1

1 1 1 1

Figure 5.1. Kohler plot for the

transverse magnetoresistance of copper.

10^ 10^ 10' B-R(273K)/R(T), T

40
Aluminum shows no inclination to obey Kohler's rule [136] for a wide range of parameters. The resistivity rises and then nearly saturates as the field is increased. At a given field Ap/p shows a peak with increasing temperature at near 20 K. Maximum values

of Ap/p run from 0.5 to 5, far below those observed for copper.

Some general comments: Nearly any polycrystalline metal will show some agreement

with Kohler's rule over a small purity range and at fixed temperature, and the Kohler plot

will be linear. Very few metals show agreement when wide ranges of temperature, purity,

defect concentration, and field are used. The longitudinal magnetoresistance of a given

sample is always lower than the transverse, usually by a factor of two or more. The

longitudinal magnetoresistance always saturates with increasing field. Samples whose

dimensions are on the order of the electron mean free path or smaller will show a decrease

in resistance with applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetic metals and alloys frequently

show a decrease in magnetoresistance with increasing field. For alloys the drop is

usually small compared with the residual resistivity; for example, Houghton, Sarachik, and

Kouvel [137] report Ap '^-O.ZS y^ cm for a Cu 42at.% Ni specimen with a residual resistivity

of 47 \i9. cm. Pure ferromagnetic metals, on the other hand, may show very large changes.

Takaki and Igaki [66] report a drop in p from '^40 nO. cm to '^^3 nfi cm for a polycrystalline

iron specimen with RRR = 2500.

It is usually the resistivity at a given field and temperature that is important in

applications. Figure 5.2 shows data for aluminum and copper. The message is clear:

beyond a certain value it makes no sense to increase the purity, since the effect is

compensated by the increased magnetoresistance.

70

8.0 -

e

o

c

6.0 -

t 4.0

CO

CO

UJ

cc

2.0 -

1 1

, ALUMINUM

\ B = 4.0T

\ - \\ —

\

\

\

. \ - \ "^-^-~19.1K

\

' _ \\

\

\ \

\ \

\

—

- \

\\\

1 1

30

40

20

1 1 COPPER

1 1

35 K —

\

^ B =

25 K

15 K

.^ ~

10.0T

4K ".

B= 3.0 T

Figure 5.2,

10 20 30x10^ " 1 3 5 7x10^

R(273 K)/(R(4 K) R(273 K)/R(4 K)

Resistivity as a function of purity as measured in the transverse configuration at several magnetic fields for aluminum and copper.

41
5.2 Hall effect

When a magnetic field is applied normal to a conductor carrying current, an electric

field, E , appears across the conductor normal to both the magnetic field and the current.

H This field, the Hall field, is due to the Lorenz force on the current carriers. The Hall

coefficient, R, is defined by the equation:

E^ = RJH (5.2)

where H is the applied field and J the current density. This is a somewhat simplistic

description, R actually is made up of off-diagonal elements of the tensor resistivity.

The Hall field is an odd function of H. Sometimes voltages appear on the Hall field

measuring probes that are even functions of the field (transverse even and planar Hall

voltages). Thus, a measurement of R almost always requires reversal of both H and J. The Hall voltages which arise in pure metals and alloys may be of either sign and

tend to be very small. However, because R does not decrease greatly with decreasing

temperature, the component of the Hall voltage that appears on misaligned voltage probes

attached to a pure metal sample at 4 K can be very large compared with the resistive

voltage. Typical data on the temperature dependence of R for simple metals are shown in

figure 5.3, adapted from Alderson, Farrell, and Hurd [138].

In simple theory, R is proportional to the inverse of the number of conduction

electrons. Its detailed behavior in various field regimes (R really isn't a constant at

all) tells a great deal about the Fermi surface and the scattering interactions which

occur on it. Furthermore, the Hall effect in semiconductors and semimetals (which have

-11 3 very low free electron concentrations) is very large (cf. R =^ 5 x 10 m /A s for copper

4 3 and R - +10 m /A s for indium-doped germanium) and usually increases with decreasing

temperature. Thus, these materials are often employed in the measurement of magnetic

fields.

There is an enormous amount of data available on the Hall effect for nearly any pure

metal and for a surprising number of alloys. The comprehensive book by Hurd [139] covers

the physics of the effect and reviews all of the data.

In magnetic metals an anomalous Hall effect occurs in which the Hall voltage rises

linearly with applied field to a certain field value and then changes to a linear rise

with a much lower slope. This behavior is seen not only in ferromagnetic metals, but also

in other metals with strong localized moments. In fact, it may present a means of observing magnetic transitions in alloys, such as the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic (or spin

glass) transitions that occur at low temperatures in some stainless steels. Apparently no Hall effect data exist for the stainless steels.

42
-1.2x10'

-1.0x10""-

CJ) o

•a5xio"^°

100 200

TEMPERATURE, K

300

Figure 5.3. Temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient as measured by Alderson,

Farrell, and Hurd [138] for very pure ("six nines") polycrystalline noble

metals at 1.206 MA m~ (15.16 kOe)

.

5.3 Pressure effects

It is not often that electrical conductors are subject to hydrostatic pressure in

actual applications. Meaden [1] and Gerritsen [19] describe the experimental situation

adequately. The early very comprehensive work of Bridgman on the resistivity variation of

nearly all metals with pressure is still the standard. That work, and some later experimental results have been compiled and reviewed by Lawson [140]. Bundy and Strong [141]

provide a further updating and a metal-by-metal review of the data.

Bridgman notes that there are 31 normal metals for which the resistivity decreases

with increasing pressure. This group includes all of the commonly used metals. The

changes induced in the room temperature resistance of most of these metals tend to be

relatively small, varying from 1 to 5% of the resistivity at atmospheric pressure when

Q _ 2 measured at pressures to '^'lO kg m . The percentage changes were observed to be somewhat

larger at lower temperatures. At higher pressures dp/dP becomes smaller. The total

9 -2

resistance decrease for copper at 10 kg m was observed to be '^13% versus 1.9% at

10 kg m'-2

43
The second group of metals, which includes the alkalis, semimetals and rare earths,

shows a wide range of behavior, often with very large changes in resistivity. Nearly all

the work that has been reported in the recent literature has been on these materials.

To return briefly to the case of copper, a particularly detailed experiment was

performed by Dugdale and Gugan [142] on two commercial wire samples and one of copper

containing 0.056 at.%Fe. They indicate that the rate of decrease of the intrinsic resistivity with pressure is temperature dependent and about four time higher at 4 K than at room temperature. On the other hand, the residual resistivity increases with pressure at

temperatures up to 80 K, the rate of increase becoming smaller as the temperature increases.

5.4 Stress and fatigue

Application of either constant or variable stress to a conductor nearly always causes

the resistivity to increase. At stress levels in the elastic range of the metal, the

increase is reversible on removal of the stress. This effect is the basis of alloy strain

gauges. As metals are stressed into the plastic region, irreversible changes occur as defects are formed. In real applications the defects described earlier never occur alone

and seldom can the relative amounts of each be determined. The problem in conductor

applications is to determine how the electrical resistivity changes as the metal is

subject to the stresses and temperatures encountered in operation. The actual resistivity

increase of a metal under stress is a strong function of many parameters including: (a)

Temperature — the lower the temperature, the greater the increase in resistivity for a given deformation; (b) Starting condition — prior cold-work may increase the initial

strain dependence of the resistivity; (c) Alloying elements — in general a larger strain

sensitivity is observed with increased alloying content. Some ordering alloys, however,

may show a decrease in resistivity on straining; (d) Type of stress applied — rolling,

drawing, simple tension, shear, and compression all apparently give different results for

the same amount of deformation, although the data are very limited.

One of the most important of these features from a low temperature application

viewpoint is the effect of temperature of deformation on the resistivity, as illustrated

in figure 5.4 for copper [143]. The tendency of the curves toward saturation is generally

observed at large deformations. At a given low temperature the curves are fit by the

empirical equation

Ap = Ke"" (5.3)

where K is a constant and n ^1.0 to 1.3 for aluminum [144] and 1.4 to 1.8 for copper [69].

Typical additional resistivities induced by strains of from 1 to 30% are in the range 1 to 200 yJ] cm in these two metals.

Metals which are severely deformed or irradiated at low temperatures show large

increases in the residual resistivity. The resistivity of the annealed state is at least

partially regained as the temperature is raised. The so-called recovery curve shows that

44
I

0.10

a

0.05 —

I 1

— /

COPPER •

- /90K

r

•

• ^-

: /

• 194 y.^y^ •

—

- / • y^ • - y •

• y^73J<,0—

^^

- / /">

—

c

373 Kp

3

1

^^^

1

-

1 2 DEFORMATION, InAo/A

Figure 5.4. Effect of temperature on the resistivity increase due to deformation of

copper by drawing [143].

the residual resistivity decreases in a number of stages which occur in rather welldefined temperature ranges. There are a total of five main stages, that may in turn show

substage structure. The stages, in order of increasing temperature, are: I. Recombination of nearby vacancies and interstitials , most often seen in irradiated specimens. Many

substages are observed. II. Recombination of diffusing vacancies and interstitials and

migration to dislocations. III. Clustering of vacancies and migration of clusters. IV. and V. Annealing of dislocations in plastically deformed specimens. A schematic view of

aluminum data compiled by Reed [145] is shown in figure 5.5. For a given material or

test, some stages are not always well defined, and the mechanism operative in every case

is not totally agreed upon. Often, one or more of the stages is not observed at all. The

exact amount of recovery observed for each stage, and the range of temperature over which

it occurs, depends on many factors, such as: (a) the specific metal and its chemical

purity, (b) how the initial state of the metal came about, i.e., by irradiation, slight

deformation, or large deformation, (c) the method of deformation or the type of particle

used for irradiation.

45
200 400

ANNEAL TEMPERATURE, l<

600

Figure 5.5. The recovery of aluminum as it is annealed through the five stages described

in the text. The shaded ranges indicate the wide variations in recovery

which may be observed at a given stage depending on the detailed parameters

of the experiment.

Fatigue at low temperatures, even at relatively low strain values, can cause significant increases in the residual resistivity. The details, of course, depend on the

amount of strain, the temperature, and the starting material. This is a topic of current

interest, but not much is yet available in the way of data. The limited data which exist

indicate that the resistivity rises rather rapidly in the first few cycles and then more

slowly much like the curves of figure 5.4 if the abscissa were in cycles. Typical residual resistivities induced in pure copper by fatigue (0.2% constant strain) to several

hundred cycles range from, about 2 nO. cm for RRR = 2200 starting material to 11 r]^ cm for

RRR = 223 [146]. Recent measurements on copper as a function of strain (to 0.88%) and

large numbers of cycles (to 10 ) show the resistivity increase to be exponential over the

entire range [147].

46
Chapter 6. AC RESISTIVITY

The electrical resistivity of conductors can be significantly higher for alternating

current than for direct current, even at quite low frequencies. This is especially true

for the pure metals at low temperatures where the electronic mean free paths may be quite

long. Furthermore, under ac excitation, power losses due to induced eddy currents occur even in the structural alloys. Although these losses are usually negligible at room

temperature, the very low specific heat of all materials near 4 K can lead to unacceptable

temperature excursions with very moderate power inputs by room temperature standards. In

conductors the losses show up as undesirable increased impedances as well as producing the

added heat loads. Ferromagnetic materials suffer additional complex losses because of

their hysteretic behavior and temperature- and field-dependent permeabilities.

Dielectrics are most often associated with ac applications and, thus, a brief introduction to their low temperature electrical behavior is also included in this chapter.

6.1 The skin effect - classical and anomalous

Nearly all texts on electromagnetism (e.g., Jackson [148]) treat the case of the

penetration of an electromagnetic wave into a conductor. The field energy is nearly

entirely magnetic in nature and the wave is exponentially damped, decreasing to 1/e - 37%

of its surface value at a distance, 6, into the metal. 5 is termed the classical skin

depth, or penetration depth, and for good conductors, is given by:

6 = {iQ/m)^''^ (6.1)

where uj is the applied angular frequency and y is the permeability in henrys per meter.

Note that this equation is in MKS units and thus p must be expressed in ohm-meters and 6 has the units of meters. The implication is that alternating currents may be concentrated

quite near the surface of a conductor, and at very high frequencies (e.g., '^^100 MHz where

6 - 0.007 mm for copper at room temperature) they may be described as "flowing entirely on

the surface." On the other hand, at powerline frequencies the conductor size is usually

less than a few skin depths and the current is not confined to the surface. Values of 6 are shown in table 6.1 for metals with RRR = 1000 and a 1.0 Hz current, a rather modest

and realistic set of values. Clearly, temperature has a dramatic effect on the ac behavior!

Because the current distribution is changed, the inductance of the metal also will be

lowered as the frequency increases. Calculation of the ac resistance, R , of a given con- ductor configuration is a complex problem in differential equations. A variety of these

calculations are presented by Stoll [149] and Lammeraner and Stafl [150]. The case of a circular wire of radius r is one of the easier to treat. The resulting equations are:

R /R^ = 1/4 + 4/26 + 36/32r for r >> 6 (6.2) ac dc

R /R, = 1 + r'^/486'^ for r < 6 (6.3) ac dc

47
These relationships are presented graphically in figure 6.1. To this scale, the highest

order terms are negligible. This graph, in conjunction with table 6.1 shows that a wire

that has essentially dc characteristics at room temperature (r < 6) may exhibit a much

higher resistance at 4 K where r >> 6.

Table 6.1. Skin depths for several metals at 1.0 Hz (RRR=1000)

Material

Copper

Aluminum

Iron

(y = 100)

Iron

(y = 1000)

Temperature

CK)

293

4

293

4

293

4

293

4

Skin Depth, 6 (mm)

66

2.1

82

2.6

16

0.5

5.0

0.16

0.5 1'2 4 6 8 10 WIRE RADIUS/SKIN DEPTH

12 14

Figure 6.1. The effect of skin depth on the ac resistance of a circular wire,

48
Resistance increases can also occur due to the presence of other active or passive

conductors. These can give a "reflected" resistance of significant size ('^^15% of R ) at

sl c small separations. The details, again, depend strongly on geometry and the interested

reader is referred to the texts just mentioned.

In the situations described above, the skin depth is assumed to be large compared

with the electron mean free path. In nearly all practical situations this is justified,

but at low temperatures it is not always the case and the anomalous skin effect must be

considered. The theory is complex [151,82] but in essence it says that the only electrons

which contribute to the conductivity are those travelling in such a direction that they do

not leave the skin depth during the time required to travel one mean free path. Clearly,

as the skin depth gets smaller, the directions satisfying this condition become fewer,

approaching grazing incidence. The number of electrons available to carry the transport

current become fewer, and the resistance increases. A detailed calculation, under a number of assumptions, shows the surface resistance then becomes independent of the purity

of the metal and significantly larger than the value predicted by the classical skin

effect. As an example, the anomalous skin effect becomes significant in pure aluminum

(RRR = 10000) at A K for frequencies as low as '^^10 Hz.

6.2 Eddy currents and magnetic diffusivity

The basic mechanisms responsible for eddy currents in conductors are just those

alternating field effects described above. Nevertheless, eddy currents are normally

considered as a separate dissipative mechanism caused by time-varying magnetic fields.

With a few exceptions, such as their use in determining the resistivity of odd-shaped

specimens (see section 2.3) and some shielding applications, they are quite undesirable in

low temperature systems. They introduce unwanted heat into the system and they create

magnetic fields that then interact with the inducing fields to give unexpected forces

which can be quite large. Many of these problems become more severe at low temperatures.

The effect of lowered specific heat has already been mentioned. The much lower resistivity of even commercially pure metals allows a changing field to induce currents that are orders of magnitude larger than would occur at room temperature. These, in turn,

greatly increase the various reaction forces.

The easiest problem to analyze is a nonf erromagnetic semi-infinite plate normal to the z axis with a sinusoidal field, H , parallel to its surface

X

H = H cosojt (6.4) X s

Maxwell's equations applied to this system lead to a diffusion equation:

3^H /8z^ = (m/6) 8H/3t (6.5)

49
with the solution

H = H e^'^ cos(ojt + z/6) (6.6) X s

where 6 is the skin depth as defined above. Thus, the field decreases exponentially with

increasing distance below the surface (the direction of -z) , giving the classical skin

depth. The peak field below the surface occurs 2/036 seconds after the surface peak,

representing a diffusion of flux into the metal. The diffusion constant, or magnetic

diffusivity, from eq (6.5) is therefore

D = p/y (6.7) mag

2 The magnetic diffusivity at 4 K tends to be on the order of 1 cm /s for pure metals and

2 several hundred cm /s for alloys. This number is frequently compared to the thermal

diffusivity to determine whether eddy current heating can be removed by conduction as rapidly as it is generated, i.e., is D , > D ? This aspect of eddy current heating is

th mag r J b

particularly important in superconducting magnet systems; it and other topics unique to those systems are treated by Brechna [152].

The calculation of the power dissipated by eddy currents is strongly related to the

geometry of the structure and most often requires complex mathematical techniques for a general solution. Stoll [149] gives many useful techniques and examples. For a flat

plate with two sides (reasonably conventional) and of thickness a, located in a parallel

uniform field, the losses per unit area, P , in the limiting cases are given by

P - H^ p/6, a >> 6 (6.8) ec s -^^

and

P - H^ (p/6) (a-^/66^), a << 5 (6.9) ec s

The SI units of power loss are watts per square meter. It is important that the proper

equation be used. The frequency dependence of the losses is quite different in the two

1/2 2 cases, varying as oj in eq (6.8) and as to in eq (6.9). In the first case, the eddy

currents are said to be inductance limited, and in the second, resistance limited. As

long as the simple inequalities a > 6 and a < 6 are not violated, results accurate to '^107^, can be obtained from the above formulas.

1/2 Since the skin depth drops as p as the temperature is lowered, it is quite possible that a switch from one inequality to the other may occur somewhere along the line

for pure metals. An aluminum plate 1 cm thick with RRR = 10000 and in a 1 Hz field has

6 = 82 mm at room temperature and 6 = 0.82 mm at 4 K. If the peak field is 3 tesla

2 2 (H = 2.4 MA/m) , the losses at room temperature will be 560 W/m by eq (6.9) and 1866 W/m

50
by eq (6.8) at 4 K! By the way, if one had persisted (wrongly) in using eq (6.9) at 4 K

the result would have been more than seven orders of magnitude larger!

In the calculations outlined here, the possibly large effect of magnetoresistance in some very pure metals, notably copper, has been neglected. The increased resistance in

very high fields will always result in decreased eddy current losses, but exact calculations require detailed information on the specific material.

In the construction of high-power transmission lines the conductor is a cable made up

of smaller wires, both to minimize eddy current losses and to insure that a nearly uniform

current distribution exists throughout each separate wire (i.e., negligible skin effect)

so as to make optimum use of the metal. Further, to insure that each wire carries the

same current the separate wires are transposed.

The ac losses that occur in ferromagnetic materials are even more complex. The

various analyses outlined above for eddy current effects usually hold, but the permeability, y, is no longer independent of H, and this fact introduces nearly insurmountable

problems for the various loss calculations. The only new low temperature complication

comes about because the value of y is also temperature dependent. For some metals the

resistivity may be a strong and complex function of field, which complicates the calculations, but this is only likely in the case of pure ferromagnetic metals. The result of

these effects is that the skin depth and magnetic diffusivity may become strongly dependent on the instantaneous value of the applied magnetic field.

Hysteresis losses often exceed the eddy current losses in magnetic steels and other

losses occur under ac excitation related to such phenomena as domain wall motion. For the

most part, these effects are not strongly temperature dependent and their description is

best left to the many excellent treatments of room temperature behavior, such as the book

by Heck [153]. The temperature dependent phenomena will be treated in a later monograph

[154].

6.3 Dielectrics

Polymers and other solid dielectric materials are extensively employed at low temperatures as electrical insulators, thermal insulators, and in the case of fiber reinforced

materials, as structural members. In their electrical insulator role it is most often the

ac properties which are of concern, although there are also problems in dc applications.

Most of the relatively small amount of available information on the ac electrical properties of dielectrics at low temperatures has been accumulated over the last decade as a result of the interest in cryogenic or superconducting powerlines. Detailed discussions

of the materials problems associated with superconducting powerlines are given in the book

by Rechowicz [155] and the review by Bogner [156].

Application of laboratory data on pure dielectric materials to the design of actual

structures is difficult because of a host of geometrical and environmental effects, which

often prove to be more severly limiting than the bulk properties. Another difficulty is

that these materials are seldom well characterized or uniform in composition. The degree

of crystallinity of polymers and the porosity of commercial fiberglass epoxy materials are

51
two examples of properties that may vary over wide ranges and that can have significant

effects on the low temperature electrical properties. Existing electrical properties data

are reviewed in the texts just mentioned and in more detail by Fallou [157]. A compilation of low temperature electrical and mechanical properties data for six polymers is also

available [158]. A recent paper [159] describes the 4 K electrical properties at gigaHertz frequencies for a number of materials. A few other papers on specific polymers are listed by Johnson [160].

The properties of dielectrics are strongly influenced by the degree of charge separation created by an applied electric field. Polar dielectrics show a large effect, while

little change is observed for the nonpolar materials. The polar or nonpolar nature of a particular material is best determined from the literature on that material. Some

examples of nonpolar dielectrics are polyethylene, polypropylene, and poly tetraf luoroethylene (TFE) ; polar dielectrics are paper, polyethylene terephtahalate (PET) and polypyromellitimide (PPMI)

The properties of interest in electrical applications are:

a. Breakdown Strength (dc, ac, and impulse)

b. Dielectric Constant (e); and

c. Loss Tangent (tan 6).

The breakdown strengths for polymers tend to be tens of kilovolts per mm of thickness

and are not greatly affected by temperature. Some polar dielectrics show increases as large as 10 to 20% on cooling to 4 K. Knowledge of this property is almost always of no value except as a means of material comparison. In real situations, the breakdown usually

occurs at much lower electric fields due to surface flashover or interactions between the

dielectric and the cryogen or gas in which it is located. Many specific cases are discussed in the references given above. Another property, the volume resistivity, is

sometimes measured. This parameter givens an indication of the number of available free

carriers, and is usually measured in conjunction with radiation damage studies.

The dielectric constant determines the capacitance of a system. Generally, small

values are desirable since high capacitances result both in high charging currents and in

high ac losses. It is hard to generalize, but some comments can be made. Most often the

dielectric constant of nonpolar dielectrics is not greatly temperature dependent. That of

the polar dielectrics tends to decrease with decreasing temperature. The dielectric

constant is significantly higher, often by more than an order of magnitude, for polar

materials than for nonpolar ones, even at low temperatures. Some typical temperature

dependences measured at low frequency are shown in figure 6.2. Frequency has little

effect on the shape of the temperature dependence curve, although an overall decrease

(<10%) in magnitude is often seen for the polar materials with increasing frequency to the

low giga-Hertz range.

The loss tangent expresses the sum of a number of loss mechanisms which occur because ,. dielectric materials are not perfect and molecules and free charges exist which can be

moved around in various ways by the applied electric field creating heat at the expense of

electrical energy. In the case of ac power transmission the power loss is given by

52
P = (jjCV tan 6 (6.10)

where l/wC is the capacitive reactance and V is the applied ac voltage. Typical values of

-3 -4

tan 6 for polar materials at 4 K are 10 to 10 , whereas the nonpolar materials have values

below 10 . Some typical curves as a function of temperature are shown in figure 6.2. Many

peaks and valleys occur, but the loss tangent generally decreases with decreasing temperature

and most of the erratic behavior is over at 4 K. This is consistent with a picture in which

many of the dissipative molecular motions are "frozen" at low temperatures. The effect of

frequency on the loss tangent is widely variable and no generalizations can be made.

When all of the uncertainties are combined with the large thermal contraction and

rapid embrittlement of most of these materials, their use at low temperatures becomes an exercise in frustration, and it is clear that no totally acceptable dielectric material

exists at present. Future directions appear to be toward chemically tailoring some of the more promising polymers, evaluating mixtures of polymers and polymers filled with low-loss

powders, and evaluating a few promising nonpolymeric materials.

3.6

h^3.2

CO

o

CJ^ 2.8

CJ —

'd^ 2.4

< 2.0 -

1.6

PPMI

PET

Polypropylene

TFE

/ Paper

J L J L 100 200

TEMPERATURE, K

(a)

300 100 200

TEMPERATURE, K

(b)

Figure 6.2. The effect of temperature on the relative dielectric constant (a) and the loss

tangent (b) of several common dielectrics at near powerline frequencies. All

data except those on the paper dielectric are from Chang [161] and were measured at 75 Hz. The data on paper are from Allen and Kuffel [162] as measured

at 47 Hz.

53
Chapter 7. LOW TEMPERATURE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES

OF SPECIFIC METALS AND ALLOYS

The aim of this chapter is to provide information which will help the reader to find

and interpret the existing resistivity data on metals and alloys and to use those data in

conjunction with his own measurements to determine resistance behavior over a wide temperature range. The metals considered are primarily those with technological applications at

low temperatures

.

Few sources of compiled data on the electrical resistivity as a function of temperature

exist. The documents by Stewart and Johnson [163] and Hall [5,7] and the tabulation by

Meaden [1] cover a number of pure metals. Copper is treated in detail by Welles [69] and

aluminum by Milek and Welles [164]. Data on both pure metals and structural alloys are compiled in the Handbook on Materials for Superconducting Machinery [165]. A large amount

of the alloy data is from Clark et al. [15]. Other sources of alloy resistivity data at

low temperatures are two handbooks dealing primarily with mechanical properties: the

Materials Properties Data Book [166] and the Aerospace Structural Metals Handbook [167].

Often the handbooks present curves of resistivity as a function of temperature

without showing the actual data points. For a few metals so much data exists that this is

the only practical approach, but usually the situation is quite the opposite. Thus, this

practice frequently masks the fact that the measurements were made at only three or four

temperatures and a solid curve on the graph does not guarantee that the resistivity is

actually known over the entire range. This is especially a problem in the range 10 to

77 K where many metals are showing the first significant deviations of the resistivity

from residual behavior with increasing temperature.

Room temperature resistivity data on 31 commercial alloys is given in the Handbook of

Chemistry and Physics [168] and data on 129 noncommercial alloys is presented in the

Metals Reference Book [55].

7.1 Conductors

All of the metals which have been seriously proposed for conductor applications below

room temperature have been at least of commercial purity (RRR >50) or better. Because of

the effects of handling and the problems of manufacture, it seems unlikely that materials

with RRR >10,000 will ever find very wide use. The metals of most interest are polycrystalline copper, aluminum, nickel, and beryllium. Sodium has been used for power trans- , mission applications at room temperature, but its use has been discontinued because of a variety of problems. It has been discussed as a low temperature conductor, but the

problems become even more formidable at cryogenic temperature [156].

Figures 7.1 and 7.2 show plots of the intrinsic resistivity for copper and aluminum as determined by the Bloch-Gruneisen formula (eq 3.1) and the measured room temperature

resistivity. A very good estimate of the resistivity of a given material at any temperature can be obtained by measuring the residual resistivity and adding that value to those

given in the figures. The Bloch-Gruneisen formula does not describe the very low temperature resistivity for very pure metals with great accuracy, but it represents the most

54
reasonable approach and will result in usable data, at least for purposes of estimation.

If better data are needed, the only option is to actually make the measurement.

The figures also show actual data points from one measurement to indicate how the

technique outline above may be applied. The serious user will need to make a larger

graph; table 7.1 provides the data. Calculated values for nickel and beryllium are also

included in the table.

10^

10'

E

o

a 10-1

CO

CO

LU

cc

10

-2

10-

10'

TTT 1 3

COPPER

-4

1

I I I I I

DEAL RESISTIVITY

J

I I I I I I 100 300

TEMPERATURE, K

Fig. 7.1 The Intrinsic resistivity of copper calculated from the Bloch-Gruneisen formula

using 9 = 330 K and p (273 K) = 1.553 yQ cm. Data for "oxygen free" copper as measured by Hust and Giarratano [169] are shown also.

55
10 =^1 I M I T \ \ I

I I I I

ALUMINUM

IDEAL RESISTIVITY

10 100

TEMPERATURE, K

300

Fig. 7.2 The intrinsic resistivity of aluminum calculated from the Bloch-Gruneisen formula

using 9 = 400 K and p (273 K) = 2.428 yf2 cm. Data for the 1100 alloy as measured

by Clark and Sparks [170] are shown also.

56
rable 7.1. Intrinsic resistivity values for several metals

Temperature Resistivity (yfi cm)

(K) Copper Aluminum Nickel Bery I n urn

(3 = 330 K (3 = 400 K i) = 400 K e = 1300 K

300 1.728 2.720 6.976 3.460

295 1.696 2.666 6.837 3.313

273 1.553 2.428 6.229 2.70

250 1.400 2.174 5.581 2.095

225 1.232 1.896 4.867 1.510

195 (CO^)

175 ^ 1.028 1.556 3.995 0.9203

0.8901 1.326 3.407 0.6100

150 0.7142 1.035 2.656 0.3226

125 0.5353 0.7432 1.903 0.1417 . 4.846 X 10"^

2.882 X 10"^

1.349 X 10"^

8.289 X 10"^

4.687 X 10":f 1.530 X 10'^

5.047 X lO'J

7.312 X 10"^

1.734 X 10'^

4.893 X 10"q

6.399 X 10"^

100 0.3556 0.4604 1.182

90 0.2852 0.3549 0.9109

77.3 (LNJ 0.1997 0.2325 0.5969

70 0.1541 ^ .819 X 10"^

.307 X 10"£

.213 X 10"^

.782 X 10"^

.114 X 10"^

.608 X 10'7

.402 X 10"'

0.1712 0.4393

60

50

40

27.2 (LNe)

20.4 (LH,)

10 ^

9

52

39

2

4

126

1

0.1007

.951 X

10"

.861 X

10'

.889 X

10" .904 X

10"

.942 X

10"

2

2

-3•45

7

4

7

14

0.2586

0.1271

776 X

10' .416 X

10" 773 X

10" 987 X

10"

2

-33

5

7 4.2 (LHe) 3 2 .538 X

10' 6 .516 X10"

7.2 Structural alloys

The data on these alloys are quite limited, particularly if accurate values are required at closely spaced temperatures. Fortunately, from the data that do exist, it

appears that most of these alloys show regular behavior with decreasing temperature. In nearly all cases, the resistivity decreases quite linearly to about liquid nitrogen

temperature and then tends to flatten out to a residual value, usually around 20 K. In some nickel alloys a slight minimum is observed, usually above 20 K. In general, the more highly alloyed metals show a higher resistivity at all temperatures, but the curves often

tend to be quite parallel for all members of an alloy series, as shown in figure 7.3 for

aluminum alloys. For most alloys the residual resistivity ratio is two or less and is,

thus, not a very meaningful quantity. Table 7.2 from Clark et al. [15], lists resistivity

values for a large number of alloys that have been used at low temperatures. This table

is the source of most of the alloy data found in modern compilations. This information is

particularly valuable in estimating the eddy current heating in large structures.

7.3 Other materials

There are, obviously, many metallic elements and alloys that have not been mentioned

here. The complete task would take several volumes and each material would be of very

limited interest. A search of the files of the National Bureau of Standards Cryogenic

Data Center yielded approximately 1400 references on resistivity alone. It seems that the

57
resistivity of nearly every alloy imaginable has been measured at some low temperature or

other. For information on a specific material, a search of the many computer systems now available is suggested. The Cryogenic Data Center at NBS has now been closed. The

Metals and Ceramics Information Center (MCIC) at the Battelle Columbus Laboratories,

Columbus, Ohio is an excellent source of bibliographies. A relatively recent MCIC publication [160] on low temperature materials properties gives an up-to-date bibliography that covers electrical properties of many of the materials discussed here, including some nonmetallics

.

E

u

CO

CO

uuDC

t t 4 20

t 100 t200

76 192

TEMPERATURE, K

t 300

273

Fig. 7.3 The electrical resistivity of a number of aluminum alloys as measured by Clark

et al. , [15].

58
Table 7.2. Electrical Resistivity of Alloys at Low Temperatures. From

273 K Material Electrical Resistivity, pQ cm 192.4 K 75.75 K 19.65 K

[15:

4.0 K

Al 1100

Al 2014

2024

2024 2024

2024

5083

5083

5083

6061 7039

7039

7075

(0) (T651)

(0) (T4)

(T6) (T86) (H113) (across)

(H113) (with)

(0) (T6) (T61)

(0) (T73)

Al

Al

Al

Al

Al

Al

AlAl

Al

Al

Al

Al 7075 (16) Hastelloy C Haste! loy N Hastel loy X (annealed) Hastelloy X (brazed)

Inconel 625

Inconel 718 (a) Inconel 718 (b) (aged) Inconel 718 (b) (annealed)

Inconel X (aged) Inconel X (annealed)

Rene 41 TD Nickel Udimet 630 Udimet 700 Waspaloy (aged) Waspaloy (annealed)

OFHC Cu OFHC Cu (60% CD) Amzirc

Berylco 25 (annealed) Berylco 25 (precipitation-hardened) Aluminum Bronze D Ni-Al Bronze Phosphor Bronze A Cartridge Brass, 70% Commercial Bronze, 90% Admiralty Arsenical

Naval Brass

Red Brass, 855. CuNi 10

CuNi 30 CuNiSi (aged)

CuNiSi (annealed) CuSi-A Ti-5Al-2.5Sn

Ti-6A1-4V

Ti-6A1-4V (ELI) Ti-13V-llCr-3Al

AISI 670 (Co Haynes 25) AISI 302 AISI 303 AISI 304L

AISI 310 AISI 316 (b) AISI 316 (c) AISI 316 (d) AISI 316 (e) AISI 321 AISI 347 AISI 410

AISI 416 AISI 430F

AISI 440C (hardened)

AISI 440C (annealed)

AISI 4340

AISI 630 (17-4 PH) AISI 631 (17-7 PH) (annealed)

AISI 631 (17-7 PH) (precipitation-hardened)

AISI 632 (PH 15-7 Mo) PH 13-8 Mo

AISI 633 (annealed)

AISI 633 (precipitation-hardened)

Fe-29 Ni Invar 36 LR 35 Fe-50 Ni Fe-79 Ni

(cold drawn, annealed)

(cold drawn, annealed)

(annealed)

(cold drawn, annealed)

2.67 1.617 0.310 0.084 0.082

4.27 3.26 1.839 1.535 1.531 3.24 2.25 0.854 0.586 0.583

4.35 3.39 2.02 1.745 1.742 4.00 3.02 1.624 1.341 1.337

4.21 3.23 1.866 1.581 1.578

5.71 4.74 3.36 3.07 3.07 5.68 4.72 3.34 3.05 3.05 5.66 4.69 3.32 3.03 3.03 3.94 3.00 1.656 1.385 1.381 4.37 3.40 2.02 1.741 1.738 4.75 3.78 2.40 2.12 2.12 3.77 2.77 1.375 1.095 1.092 5.29 4.36 3.04 2.77 2.76 126.8 125.8 124.0 123.1 123.3

120.6 120.0 119.5 119.4 120.1 113.8 111.6 108.3 107.2 107.6 115.0 112.9 109.4 108.1 108.7 127.7 126.6 124.8 123.9 123.4

114.5 112.1 108.3 107.7 108.1 106.6 103.6 99.2 98.4 98.8

122.5 121.4 118.5 118.3 118.8

122.9 121.0 118.3 117.3 117.6 124.5 123.1 121.0 120.4 120.9 126.3 123.9 120.0 118.3 118.1 6.73 3.87 0.741 0.185 0.173

112.2 109.4 105.1 104.1 104.5

131.5 127.5 120.7 117.4 116.5

119.1 116.0 110.8 108.7 108.2 124.3 121.9 117.9 116.0 115.4

1.559 1.013 0.200 0.017 0.016

1.581 1.034 0.222 0.032 0.031 1.730 1.177 0.364 0.163 0.163

10.51 9.68 8.49 8.18 8.21

9.21 8.40 7.24 6.92 6.92

16.2 15.3 14.0 13.8 13.9 18.35 17.39 15.97 15.65 15.74 10.48 9.83 8.88 8.58 8.59 6.65 5.85 4.65 4.22 4.22 3.90 3.29 2.38 2.10 2.11 6.93 6.15 4.97 4.56 4.56 6.32 5.41 3.89 3.28 3.25 4.66 4.00 3.02 2.72 2.74

18.39 17.75 16.86 16.72 16.65 38.4 37.8 36.7 36.5 36.4 3.87 3.30 2.45 2.21 2.21 7.11 6.53 5.66 5.41 5.43

23.2 22.5 21.5 21.4 21.3 160.4 152.2 139.0 135.4 135.7

167.5 161.0 150.1 146.9 -- 156.3 149.0 136.6 133.1 -- 149.2 150.9 155.1 157.4 156.7 94.6 91.7 87.0 84.8 83.9

71.0 63.6 51.9 49.5 49.6

70.7 63.1 51.1 49.1 49.3

70.4 63.0 51.4 49.4 49.6

87.3 81.7 72.4 68.8 68.5

76.5 69.7 58.5 55.3 55.3

77.6 70.7 59.5 56.3 56.3

75.0 67.9 56.6 53.8 53.9

71.8 64.3 52.3 50.2 50.3

73.9 66.8 55.6 53.4 53.6 70.8 63.4 51.9 50.0 50.1 55.9 48.7 39.5 38.2 38.2

66.2 60.4 53.4 52.3 52.3

58.9 51.0 40.9 39.4 39.4

61.0 55.6 49.0 47.9 47.8

61.0 55.7 49.1 47.9 47.8

31.0 25.8 19.27 18.16 18.15 101.7 99.7 97.1 96.8 96.9 101.5 99.5 96.9 96.7 96.8

70.9 65.8 57.8 57.6 57.5 80.0 73.5 63.2 61.5 61.6

100.1 98.1 95.3 94.9 95.0 64.4 57.7 44.2 43.2 43.3

74.5 68.9 60.7 59.5 59.5

35.4 28.4 22.4 21.1 20.9

79.5 69.0 54.4 50.5 50.2

71.9 59.5 43.8 40.2 40.0

39.2 29.2 19.5 17.6 17.4

20.6 16.3 12.2 11.5 11.4

^The use of tradenames is for material identification only and in no way implies endorsement by NBS. 59
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68
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1. PUBLICATION OR

REPORT NO,

NBS TN-1053

2. Performing Organ. Report No, 3. Publication Date

March 1982

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Electrical Properties of Materials and Their

Measurement at Low Temperatures

5. AUTHOR{S)

F. R. Fickett

6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION (If joint or other than NBS. see instructions)

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

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l^n Document describes a computer program; SF-185, FlPS Software Summary, is attached.

11. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual sumnnary of most significant information. If document includes a significant

bibliography or literature survey, mention it here)

A review is given of the electrical resistance of materials at cryogenic

temperatures. Measurement techniques, the data base, and uses of the data are presented. The emphasis is on metals and alloys of technological importance;

a topic which covers a large range of materials. Similarly, the treatment of

theory and of measurement techniques is primarily for the user interested in

the more practical aspects of the subject. In every instance, however,

references are given which allow the reader to pursue the subject at any

1 evel

12. KEY WORDS (Six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only proper names; and separate key words by semicolons)

Alloys; conductivity; electrical property; metals; polymers;

resistance; resistivity;; review.

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