The difference between Immersion Gold PCB and Gold Plating on PCB

Immersion gold plate and gold-plated plate are the processes that are often used in PCB circuit boards. So what impact will these two gold plates have on the Circuit Board? The following is a detailed explanation for you.

What is gold plating?

What we mean by gold plating on the whole plate generally refers to electroplated gold, electroplated nickel gold plate, electrolytic gold, electroplated gold, electroplated nickel gold plate, there is a distinction between soft gold and hard gold (generally hard gold is suitable for gold fingers)

The principle is to dissolve nickel and gold (commonly known as gold salt) in the chemical solution, immerse the circuit board in the electroplating tank and turn on the current to form a nickel-gold coating on the copper foil surface of the circuit board. , the advantages of wear resistance and oxidation resistance are widely used in electronic products.

Then what is Immersion gold? Immersion gold is a layer of plating formed by chemical redox reaction, which is generally thicker. It is generally a kind of immersion gold method for chemical nickel-gold-gold layer, which can achieve a thicker gold layer.

The difference between PCB gold-plated board and immersion gold board.

1. Generally, the thickness of immersion gold to gold is much thicker than that of gold plating. Immersion gold will be golden yellow, which is more yellow than gold plating. Customers will be more satisfied with immersion gold on the surface.

2. The gold body structure formed by the two is different. Immersion gold is easier to weld than gold plating, which will not lead to poor welding and cause customer complaints. At the same time, it is precisely because immersion gold is softer than gold-plated, gold-plated is more commonly used for gold fingers, and hard gold is wear-resistant.

3. The immersion gold board only has nickel-gold on the pad. The transmission of the signal in the skin effect is in the copper layer, which will not affect the signal.

4. Immersion gold has a denser crystal structure than gold plating and is not prone to oxidation.

5. As the wiring becomes denser, the line width and spacing have reached 3-4mil, the gold-plated side is prone to short-circuit of gold wire, and only nickel-gold is on the pad on the immersion gold board, so there will be no short-circuit of gold wire.

6. Only the pads on the immersion gold board have nickel-gold, so the combination of the solder mask on the circuit and the copper layer is more solid, and the project will not affect the spacing when making compensation.

7. Generally used for boards with relatively high requirements, the flatness is better, and immersion gold is generally used. Immersion gold generally does not appear black pad phenomenon after assembly. The flatness and standby life of immersion gold boards are the same as those of gold-plated boards. it is good.