Gold wire bonding to Electroless Ni /Immersion gold is at best risky. More gold is needed for a good Gold to Gold bond. Electrolytic and electroless gold may be nessecary at 20 - 30 uins, immersion Au is only 3 - 6 uins. Electroless Ni Immersion Au is a good surface for Al wire bonding because Th Al wire bonds to the underlying Ni. George Milad Tech Mkt Mgr LeaRonal Inc ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################