Describing mechanical damage evolution through in situ electrical resistance measurements

The fatigue properties of metallizations used as electrical conductors in flexible electronic devices have been thoroughly studied over the years. Most studies use time-intensive characterization methods to evaluate mechanical damage. For their ease of access, in situ electrical resistance measurements are often performed along with other characterization methods. However, the data are mostly used as an indicator of failure and a thorough analysis is usually missing. This work presents some deeper analysis methods of such datasets, using gold films on polyimide, with and without a chromium interlayer, revealing that grain growth, through-thickness cracking, and more general fatigue behavior can be determined from electrical resistance data alone. A case is made for increased utilization of such easily obtained data, reducing the time required for the evaluation of experiments.