Hi Ben - gold embrittlement is a function of the amount of gold in the 
solder joint and not dependent on the pwb pad being copper or nickel. The 
IPC-STD-001 Handbook has a very good and short tutorial on gold 
embrittlement in section 5.4.1.1 on page 63/64 which would be useful. 
Also, there is good coverage of the topic in the AWS Soldering Handbook, 
section 2.2 Contamination, pages 182-183. FYI - the AWS Soldering 
Handbook, ISBN 0-87171-618-6, edited by Dr. Paul Vianco, Sandia National 
Labs, is one of those references that everyone must have on their desks 
(IMHO). It covers a huge range of solder and soldering process topics in a 
well written format.

Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
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[TN] Au embrittlement on Copper vs Nickel






Technetters,

Anyone care to share some comments on Au embrittlement?
Specifically, what is the relative difference between joints on copper
vs nickel? (For a SnPb joint)

Does Cu inhibit AuSn4 from forming in the bulk solder? Does this have
any effect on Au in the intermetallic layer?
Do the intermetallic compounds containing Au of each joint result in a
similar brittleness?
Do the joints have the same propensity for growth of intermetallic
compounds containing Au?

Any thoughts are welcome.
Ben



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