Hi TechNet Land - Sorry for a tardy response but its been a bit tough catching
up on the email traffic after attending APEX. The responses on the "is 30
microinches of gold going to embrittle the solder joint?" question have been 100
percent right AND wrong! A 30 microinch thickness of gold will not embrittle the
solder joints provided: a) the solder process has enough solder volume to allow
the overall solderjoint gold percentage to stay below 3%; b) the soldering
process used is hot enough for a long enough duration to allow (a) to take
place. I have seen gold embrittlement issues when the gold thickness was 20
microinches - but the solder process was pretty poor. The interaction of the
gold finish and the soldering process is the key to avoiding embrittled
solderjoints.

Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
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"Misner, Bruce" <[log in to unmask]> on 03/16/2000 07:11:09 AM

Please respond to "TechNet E-Mail Forum." <[log in to unmask]>; Please respond to
      "Misner, Bruce" <[log in to unmask]>

To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:

Subject:  Re: [TN] ??: [TN] Gold Removal



Enough. 30u Inches of Au IS NOT enough to embrittle solder joints. I've done
it on space flight hardware for years in the 1980's and have performed every
test, environmental screen and evaluation imaginable with no detriment and
have satisfied NASA and the Air Force.  Satisfy your QA with an MRB, accept
the boards, send a SCAR to the vendor, save your schedule and save your
headache for something real. Next Topic.

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