Jorge, Au thickness of .1 or even .5 umeters is not sufficent to cause Au embrittlement. I agree with Phil, the initial gold-to-nickel interface or Ni oxide may be the weak link, not gold embrittlement. Regards, Bruce Misner > ---------- > From: Jorge Rodriguez[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Reply To: TechNet E-Mail Forum.;[log in to unmask] > Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 4:39 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [TN] Gold embrittlement > > We have a SMT connector with leads that have a minimum of 0.1 micrometers > of > gold plating over 1.5 micrometers of nickel underneath. We don't know why > the solder joint on this component, even though it looks OK, breaks and > fractures very easily. I suspect the gold is making the joint very brittle > but I am not sure. We already checked the oven profile and it looks > alright. > From all the components this is the only one we are having problems with. > Any advice?. Is there a solder paste that help when gold plated components > are used? > > > Any advice would be appreciated. > > > Jorge Rodriguez > Process Engineer > Varian Electronics Manufacturing > E-mail: [log in to unmask] > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------- > Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d > To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in > the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet > To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET > Technet NOMAIL > Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > > E-mail Archives > Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for > additional > information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 > ext.5315 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------- > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------