Mechanical and thermal properties of W-20Cu alloy for packaging HgCdTe IRFPA detector at cryogenic temperatures

Tungsten-copper alloy, as an electronic packaging material with excellent comprehensive performance, is widely used in the cooled packaging dewar structure of HgCdTe infrared focal plane detector. Thermodynamic properties (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CET), Thermal Conductivity (TC), Specific Heat Capacity (SHC)), mechanical properties and microstructure of W-20 wt% Cu(W-20Cu) are investigated in the range of 300 K similar to 4.2 K, respectively. The quasi-static tensile tests are carried out on an electronic universal testing machine to obtain the typical stress-strain curves and mechanical properties of W-20Cu. The yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation and shrinkage of the specimens are measured. Besides, the Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) are applied to observe the microstructure of W-20Cu alloy. The results demonstrate that W-20Cu alloy has outstanding thermal properties of high strength and hardness, high specific heat and low heat capacity and expansion coefficient. Tensile properties of the alloy significantly improve at extremely low temperature, and compared with 300 K, the YS and UTS of W-20Cu increase by 30.68 % and 11.27 % at 77 K. At 4.2 K, the YS increase by 44.49 %, and the UTS increase by 17.20 %, while the plasticity and fracture toughness have a sharp reduction from 300 K to 4.2 K. All specimens exhibit brittle fracture characteristics. With the increase of W crystals cleavage ratio and W-W continuity, the microstructure continuity and uniformity are improved. The number of plastic dimples of Cu phase decreases and the dimples become shallow slightly.