28 The PCB Design Magazine • April 2015
ing bright for the EPAG process. Hinged on the
discussions above it is apparent that Ni presents
some difficulties when considering its suitabil-
ity within the scope of future requirements. The
target of this article is to highlight the superior-
ity of the EPAG process in ascertaining the goals
of the future.
PCBDESIGN
Figure 9: The characteristics of prior art TCB compared to ePAG. (The highlights are in green.)
Figure 10: This demonstrates initial results achieved at the Georgia institute of Technology (TCB at
190C – 3s – 365MPa with perfect electrical yield [1-2Ω]).
Rick Nichols is global product
manager, selective finishing,
at Atotech Deutschland Gmbh.
he may be reached by
clicking here.
THE FUTURE oF NICkEL IN NICkEL/PALLADIUM/GoLD FINAL FINISHES continues
feature