ISO 9000 Regitered

Alternate Finishing is proud to announce that we have upgraded our Quality Management System to the requirements of AS9100C and have been registered by American Systems Registrar. A copy of our certificate can be accessed by clicking the registrar's logo above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plating ceramic substrates

Gold Plate 

We can provide two different types electrolytic gold plate. Each serves a different purpose.


Soft Gold 

"Soft" or "bondable" gold is specified most frequently on thin film. This gold is specified when the assembly operations require wire bonding with gold wire. The purity and hardness of bondable soft gold must be closely monitored and controlled. The hardness must be 90 Knoop (25g load) or less. The purity must be 99.9% or greater.
 
In the past, wire bonding with gold wire was thought to require a relatively thick deposit. It was often specified at 100 micro-inches minimum. Advancements in wire-bonding equipment and technique now allow bonding to be performed at a thickness as low as .3 microns (12 micro-inches), however most still specify 1.3 microns (50 micro-inches) minimum.
 
This gold meets the requirements of Mil-G-45204, type III, grade A. It also meets the requirements of ASTM B-488-01, type III , Code A.
  

Hard Gold

 The other type is known as "hard" gold. It is almost never specified for thin-film circuits. It is usually used for contacts such as edge board connectors or a key pad. The hard gold we use is also a solderable gold. The thickness specified for contacts is .8 microns (30 micro-inches) minimum or 1.3 microns (50 micro-inches minimum). The thickness specified for solderability should be a maximum of .8 microns (30 micro-inches).
 
This gold meets the requirements of Mil-G-45204, type I or type II, grade C. It also meets the requirements ASTM B-488-01, type I or type II, code C.

 

Copper Plate

 We provide a smooth even deposit from a copper sulfate plating solution. 
Copper plating is used in higher voltage applications. We have plated thickness as high as .004" with a tolerance of +/- .0003".

 

Nickel Plate 

We provide a low stress satin nickel plated from a sulfamate nickel plating solution. 
Nickel plating serves several functions: First it is a barrier layer which prevents the diffusion of copper into the gold top layer. If the copper is diffused into the gold the electrical characteristics (i.e. contact resistance), of the contact will be degraded.

For more information on any of our services, please feel free to contact us.

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