Expert Discusses Tarnish-Resistant Silver Alloys

As new Director of Technology for Materion Microelectronics & Services in Albuquerque, NM, George Wityak brings 30 years of expertise in non-ferrous metallurgy to the position.  In his Director role, George will be focusing on new material and process development and application of Best Practices for critical products. Reporting to George is The Technology Group, which includes PhDs and engineers from a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines, who reside on several continents close to Materion customers. George is in the process of completing his Ph.D. in Materials Science and holds, or has contributed to, several patents related to thin film technology and authored several papers.

George’s “Developments in Tarnish-Resistant Silver Alloys,” was published by the Society of Vacuum Coaters after presentation at a SVC conference.  The paper discusses testing of silver-based alloys that have been developed to improve tarnish resistance in multi-layer stacks. These alloys traditionally had 80-95% silver and employed gold or platinum group metals as alloying elements to stabilize the properties of the silver when exposed to moisture or mildly acidic environments. However, new, lower cost alloys have been developed that represent a more favorable balance between cost and performance. Read the full paper for conclusions reached from the testing.

George also comments on the future potential of several alloys regarding their optical properties, sheet resistance, adhesion and sputter rate as demonstrated by the conducted tests. Some of the alloys tested have been employed in thick or thin film applications such as those offered by Materion. In his paper, George comments on the future potential of several alloys regarding their optical properties, sheet resistance, adhesion and sputter rate as demonstrated by test results.  To contact George, email: George.Wityak@materion.com