It is my understanding that both hard and soft gold are electroplated.
The difference is that "soft gold" is essentially pure, whereas "hard gold" is highly alloyed, often with Cobalt, to harden it.
Rudy Sedlak
RD Chemical Company
--- On Tue, 8/14/12, Guy Ramsey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Guy Ramsey <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [TN] PCB finish: ENIG vs. hard gold
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 11:32 AM
I am not sure I can talk to hard or soft gold, and suitability for
soldering.
But, I can say that it is possible to solder to electroplated gold, which is
different from Immersion Gold finish.
I think some people say hard gold when they mean electroplated gold.
There is a brief discussion of this in Coomb's Handbook.
Guy
-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Glidden, Kevin
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 12:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] PCB finish: ENIG vs. hard gold
Hi everyone,
We have a PCB supplier who is offering "Hard Gold" as an alternate to ENIG
finish, due to PCB size and processing capabilities. The application is
Class 3 (mil/aero). The circuit is thin FR4 and subject to SMT reflow w/
Sn63Pb37 (non RoHS) solder alloy, and moderate flexing in end application.
Can anyone offer info on the differences between the two finishes, and/or
their suitability? Is there an IPC spec (or specs) that outline "hard
gold"?
Thanks,
Kevin Glidden
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