Reliability Evaluation of Thick Film Resistors Through Measurementof Third Harmonic Index

[摘要] The degradation mechanism of ruthenium-based thick film resistors is investigated in accelerated tests under variousconditions of humidity, temperature and overload stress. This study shows that the variation of resistance is mainlycaused by hydration and dehydration in the conductive componentRuO2: RuO2+xH2O↔RuO2 • xH2O. Inaddition to measuring resistance, the Third Harmonic Index (THI) is studied as the characteristic which may indicatethe degree of various defects in resistors. A strong correlation exists between “the initial THI” and “the variationrate of resistance during an accelerated test”. A resistor which indicates a quite large initial THI shows remarkablevariation of resistance, and has scratches and/or foreign substances on the surface of the thick film resistor. As aresult, it becomes evident that the initial THI can be used to predict the stability of a resistor in a nondestructive test.

[学科分类] 工程和技术（综合）