A study of switching time and light emission during carbon contact separation

In the field of electrical contacts, carbon has been rarely investigated but carbon is more and more used in the automotive field. This is especially true in membrane switching technology, which is commonly used in the control field such as in remote controls, automotive switches, mobile phones, etc. This technology is based on a mobile contact, mounted on flexible elastomeric parts which are pressed onto a static contact of the PCB (printed circuit board). The contact material is made of a carbon-loaded polymer or a metallic contact pill whereas the PCB is copper-coated with a layer of gold on top. The trend today is to use this technology in more applications requiring higher powers such as relay energizing or direct motor control. As reported in our previous work for such currents