Meeting Fast-Growing Demands for Greater Reliability


In September 2019, Products Finishing published a synopsis of Beyond Ni/Au: Next Generation Corrosion-Resistant Finishes for Electronics Applications by Rob Schetty, Vice President, Technic Advanced Technology Division.

One of the primary functions of electroplated coatings is to increase the corrosion-resistance of the substrate and the other layers to which the coating is applied. Improved corrosion protection is essential, particularly in electronics applications, due to fast-growing demands for greater reliability. The industry-standard conventional electroplated nickel plus hard-gold, which has served many portions of the electronics plating industry well for several decades, is now being replaced by alternatives in several applications in order to satisfy these new demands.

Increasing the corrosion-resistance of an electroplated electronic device can be achieved through several different means:

  1. Modify the composition or thickness of the functional final finish.
  2. Implement a more robust barrier layer(s) between the substrate and the final finish.
  3. Apply a post-treatment process on top of the final finish.

Each of these methods has its own set of benefits and disadvantages, particularly concerning the ever-present cost constraints in place for each application.

Mr. Schetty's presentation covers several next-generation approaches to increasing the corrosion-resistance of electroplated articles using each of the three methods outlined above.

See the published synopsis in Products Finishing online: 
https://www.pfonline.com/articles/beyond-niau-next-generation-corrosion-resistant-finishes-for-electronics-applications