Gold electrodeposition within the electronics industry

Abstract

The use of gold within the electronics industry is widespread for domestic, commercial, aerospace and defence equipment. The combination of good electrical conductivity coupled with high resistance to corrosion has led to its widespread adoption as the standard material for contacts, bonding, joining, and high performance high reliability conductor applications. In part due to its high intrinsic cost, gold is usually employed in the form of a thin layer and the performance of this relatively thin film is critical to the correct functioning of many devices. This article deals with the production of these thin gold layers by electrodeposition processes which play an important part in processing technology.