Hard Gallium Alloys for Use as Low Contact Resistance Electrodes and for Bonding Thermocouples into Samples

A new family of low contact resistance electrodes is described. These are hard alloys of gallium, prepared at room temperature in a manner similar to that of dental amalgams. They may be packed into cavities in semiconductors or in some cases applied to a flat surface and allowed to harden under pressure. These alloys can also be used to bond wires and thermocouples into samples. The maximum operating temperatures range from 250° to about 900°C for various alloys. The electrical characteristics, when used on ferrites and controlled valency semiconductors, are similar to those of the frequently used semiliquid indium-mercury and indium-gallium electrodes.