PCB News - Is electroplating important in the pcb industry?

Is electroplating important in the PCB industry?

Is electroplating important in the PCB industry? On printed circuit boards, copper is used to interconnect components on the substrate. Although it is a good conductor material that forms the surface pattern of the conductive path, if it is exposed to the air for a long time, it will easily lose its luster due to oxidation and lose its solderability due to corrosion. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt various technologies to protect copper printed lines, through holes and electroplated through holes, including organic paint, oxide film and electroplating technology.

The use of organic coatings is very simple, but because of the changes in its concentration, composition and curing cycle, technicians do not recommend long-term use, and even lead to unpredictable weldability deviations. The oxide film can protect the circuit from corrosion, but it cannot maintain solderability. Electroplating or metal coating processes are standard operations to ensure weldability and protect circuits from corrosion. It plays an important role in the manufacture of single-sided, double-sided and multilayer printed circuit boards. It is worth mentioning that plating a layer of solderable metal on printed circuits has become a standard operation for copper printed circuits to provide a solderable protective layer.

In electronic equipment, the interconnection of various modules usually requires the use of a printed circuit board socket with spring contacts and a printed circuit board with connection contacts. These contacts should have high wear resistance and low contact resistance, which requires a layer of rare metals to be plated on them. The most commonly used metal is gold. In addition, other coated metals that can be used in printed circuits are tin plating, copper plating, and sometimes copper plating in certain printed circuit areas.

Another layer of coating on the copperplate printing line is an organic coating, usually a solder film. If soldering is not required, apply a layer of epoxy film by screen printing technology. The process of applying a layer of organic flux will not undergo electron exchange. When the circuit board is immersed in the electroless plating solution, the anti-nitrogen compound will adhere to the exposed metal surface and will not be absorbed by the substrate.

Is electroplating important in the PCB industry? Contemporary science and technology make electronic products more dependent on sophisticated technology and strict requirements for environmental and safety adaptability. These strict requirements and quality control standards can make the practice of electroplating go further and take a step toward the future.