Introduction
Gold is a precious metal with a unique yellow color. As a precious metal, it will not oxidize in air, so its electrical conductivity stays uniform over long periods of time. This makes it ideally suited for electroplating applications. Gold plating offers good corrosion resistance, good solderability and, when alloyed with cobalt, it has very good wear resistance.
Main Application / Advantages
- Gold is commonly used in electrical switch contacts, connector pins and barrels, and other applications where intermittent electrical contact occurs. Gold plating is often used in electronics to provide a corrosion-resistant electrically conductive layer on copper, typically in electrical connectors and printed circuit boards. With direct gold-on-copper plating, the copper atoms have the tendency to diffuse through the gold layer, causing tarnishing of its surface and formation of an oxide/sulfide layer. A layer of a suitable barrier metal, usually nickel, therefore has to be deposited on the copper substrate, forming a copper-nickel-gold sandwich.
Specification and / or Generic Process Flow
Pink Gold
- Pink gold is a gold-copper alloy that is approximately 65% to 75% gold. Epson started mass production of pink gold plating on watch parts in 2005 due to the rising popularity of pink gold-plated watches and jewelry.
Main Application / Advantages
- Pink gold has several advantages, including lower cost due to its copper content, higher hardness than hard gold, improved wear resistance, and its attractive colouring and bright, smooth surface.
Generic Process Flow
