Chuck,

How does one check the tension in nickel plating?  Do you use a
diffractometer?

Best regards,
Ed Hare
SEM Lab, Inc.

Chuck Brummer wrote:

> We have seen this kind of problem on Flexible Circuits too.  Check or
> have the nickel supplier check the tension in the nickel.  If a Ni
> bath is too old or contaminated it will be very hard and this will
> propagate a crack in your trace if bent.  Also check the stress on the
> seed layer material, it can lower the overall tensile strength.
>
> Chuck Brummer
> Acuson
>
> Joan M.Slade wrote:
>
>> I have a question in regards to copper plating cracking on Teflon™
>> materials.The problem is only seen after ni / au plating. If the
>> boards are flexed, the underlying copper cracks. What would cause
>> this ?We are baking the boards and removing humidity issues.
>