Hi, There is such a thing as soft electroless gold on printed circuits. It is not applied instead of the immersion gold though. It needs an initial immersion gold deposit because the chemistry is only catalytic on gold. Our gold vendor sells the chemistry. Let me know if you are interested. It would be used for wire bond with fine gold wire, not for soldering. Bob Robert Peterson mailto:[log in to unmask] Alternate Final Finishes, Inc. 166 Middlesex St. N. Chelmsford MA 01863 Phone (978) 251-7429 Fax (978) 251-7219 http://www.AlternateFinalFinishes.com -----Original Message----- From: Jack Olson [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, October 07, 1999 11:34 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Flash Gold vs. ??? Do some manufacturers use the soft electroless gold (deep bath?) in place of immersion gold? Is there some place I could learn what the difference is? None of my books address it, and I always thought flash gold was a self-limiting process that wouldn't go over 10 mils, but now we are hearing it can be any thickness we want. True? ############################################################## TechNet Mail List 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 web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ############################################################## ############################################################## TechNet Mail List 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 web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ##############################################################