How much time does it take to immersion gold on PCB under standard conditions?

PCB gold immersion is a process for manufacturing PCB that involves depositing a layer of gold on a copper surface. The gold immersion process can help improve the reliability and stability of PCB because gold has good electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance. So, how much time does it take to deposit gold on PCB?

Generally speaking, the time needed for PCB gold deposition depends on a number of factors, including the area of the copper surface, the thickness of the gold deposited, and the speed of gold deposition. Usually, the faster the gold immersion speed, the shorter the time required. However, the gold immersion speed should not be too fast, otherwise the quality of gold immersion may be affected. Therefore, when determining the time required for PCB gold immersion, it is necessary to comprehensively analyze and weigh the specific situation.

Under the standard gold immersion process flow, some PCB manufacturers may use chemical gold immersion technology, which usually takes about 1-2 hours to complete the whole process. However, the process may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and process flow to process flow, so the specific PCB gold immersion time required may need to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

In summary, the time required for PCB gold immersion depends on a number of factors, including the area of the copper surface, the thickness of the gold immersion, and the speed of the gold immersion. When determining the time required, a comprehensive analysis and trade-offs need to be made according to the specific situation.

What are the characteristics of the gold immersion PCB process?

The gold immersion process provides the best pad reflection because it creates a fine crystalline “mirror” effect on the pad surface. This high reflectivity minimizes the “shadow effect” and improves the connection reliability of the pads.

The gold immersion process provides excellent flatness. Using a three-step catalytic process of photoimmersion of nickel/palladium/gold, the gold immersion process creates a plating layer on the copper surface that achieves a very flat surface finish. This flatness reduces the “mosquito” peeling phenomenon and improves the reliability of the PTH (plug-in hole).

The immersion gold process has good heat and cold resistance. Since the surface of the immersion gold plate is covered with an inert metal layer, its thermal expansion and contraction coefficient is more moderate than that of Cu (copper), which helps to improve the board’s heat and cold resistance, and reduces the risk of cracking and peeling of the board in extreme environments.

The immersion gold process can provide excellent PIM (ionic migration) characteristics. In high temperature and high humidity environments, the immersion gold process can effectively block the migration of copper ions, thus reducing the risk of board damage due to ion migration.

Immersion gold process has good corrosion resistance. As the metal layer on the surface of the immersed gold plate is dense and stable, so it can effectively resist a variety of chemical corrosion, thus ensuring the long-term reliability and life of the board.

In summary, the immersion gold PCB process has excellent pad reflection performance, flatness, heat resistance, cold resistance, PIM characteristics and corrosion resistance and other characteristics, so it is widely used in high-end PCB manufacturing.