Au Plating Failure Prevention on the Electronic Industry

Au plating was widely used to the function of soldering, contact/connection, and decoration, rendered by the extremely good solderability, customer favorite noblest appearance, excellent corrosion resistance, high electrical conductivity, etc. while Au plating thickness and quality are critical to influence the function performance and reliability after service in field. In this paper, soft gold, hard gold and selective gold plating processes were introduced in different application aspects. Some typical failure analysis cases related to Au plating such as passives tombstone, contact philosophy and mercury attack were exemplified to make clear the correct application and proper Au thickness requirement. The prevention solutions were also recommended.