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Letter 15047
Ni/Au Electroplating on PCB
[Malaysia]
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I am a new application engineer in pcb industry. I want to know
what is the industrial recommended thickness for Ni/Au electroplating
for surface mount devices of size 0603,0402 and 0201. Can any one out
there advise me?
Thanks,
Karhock
- Penang, Malaysia
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Karhock:
You mean with all those plating guys in Bayan Lepas Free Trade
Zone you can't find anyone to help you? Half the engineers employed
there run plating lines! Anyway the answers to all your questions are
in the literature. Begin with the IPC, JEDEC, and free MIL SPEC
websites. They have standards which call out thicknesses for every
application. Try Mil-C-14550A for Copper, Mil-G-45204 for Gold, and
QQ-N-290 [link is to spec at TechStreet] for Nickel. As
you read these specs, print them out and start making your own binder
of specs. They will constantly come in handy. Then there are books.
One of my favorites is "Understanding and Using Surface Mount &
Fine Pitch Technology" by Hutchins. There are many more. You can find
most of the links you need here at this fine website.

Dave Kinghorn
Chemical Engineer - Walnut, CA
++
Dear K,
Ni plating is to stop copper migration to the gold and normally it
requires 5-12 micron thickness. Your customers may insists you plate
it thicker. There are two type of gold. One is to flash it (about
0.05 -0.1 micron) and the other type is to have a thicker for
abrassion purpose, like gold fingers. They are usually hard gold.
Soft gold is for bonding purposes. The thickness depends from
customer requirement. The function of gold plating is normally
conductivity and decorative. Your PCB chemical suppliers should be
able to furnish these info. If they cannot change the supplier.
Regards,
Ang T T
- Kajang
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