PCB Gold Fingers with 30µ” (microinches) of Hard Gold Plating are a common feature in printed circuit board manufacturing, particularly for edge connectors. Here’s some information about this specification:
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Gold Fingers: These are the exposed metal contacts at the edge of a PCB that plug into a connector or slot. They’re called “fingers” due to their appearance.
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Hard Gold Plating: This refers to the process of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the copper contacts. “Hard gold” is an alloy of gold (typically 99.7% pure) with small amounts of hardening elements like nickel or cobalt.
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Thickness: 30µ” (30 microinches) is the thickness of the gold layer. This is equivalent to approximately 0.762 micrometers (µm).
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Benefits of Hard Gold Plating:
- Excellent conductivity
- High wear resistance
- Corrosion protection
- Low contact resistance
- Long shelf life
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Applications: This type of plating is commonly used in:
- Computer motherboards
- Expansion cards
- Memory modules
- Other high-reliability electronic components
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Standards: This plating often meets IPC (Association Connecting Electronics Industries) standards for electronic assemblies.
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Cost: Gold plating adds to the cost of PCB manufacturing due to the precious metal content, but it’s often necessary for ensuring reliability in critical connections.
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Alternative thicknesses: While 30µ” is common, other thicknesses (like 10µ”, 20µ”, or 50µ”) may be used depending on the application requirements.
This specification indicates a high-quality, durable finish suitable for applications requiring repeated insertions and high reliability.