Gold Plating Services

Advanced Plating Technologies, offers gold plating in both 99.7% pure hard gold and 99.9% pure soft gold electrodeposits.Hard gold plating services are commonly used for applications where repeated sliding or connection wear is a design consideration.Soft gold plating is commonly used where the highest of gold purity is required for soldering, wire bonding, high temperature, biocompatibility or high corrosion resistance applications. Gold is a fully noble or non-reactive metal that does not form oxides or compounds. This unique “precious” property makes gold an outstanding choice for critical electronic and interconnect applications where the highest reliability bonding, conductivity and signal transmission are principle design considerations.

Hard vs Soft Gold

When specifying gold plating services for an application, the question of hard gold plating versus soft gold plating is common design topic. Hard gold plating is a gold electrodeposit that has been alloyed with another element to alter the grain structure of the gold to achieve a harder deposit with a more refined grain structure. The most common alloying elements used in hard gold plating are cobalt, nickel or iron. Soft gold plating is the highest purity gold electrodeposit that essentially is pure gold without the addition of any alloying elements. Soft gold plating produces a more coarse grain structure that is free of any significant codeposits.

Benefits of Gold Plating

The unique “noble” properties of gold have been recognized and valued as far back as ancient times. In the industrialized era precious metals like gold are commonly used in applications where oxidation or corrosion can cause reliability issues. The Internet of Things (IoT) and rapid growth of electrical applications has resulted in more interconnected products. Gold plating is an outstanding choice to ensure low contact resistance that does not change over time. Since 1948, Advanced Plating Technologies (APT) has provided functional and industrial gold plating services in demanding electrical and signal transmission applications within the electronics, interconnect, defense and medical sectors.

Gold Plating Thickness of Connectors and Contacts

Gold Plating Thickness of Connectors

Proper specification of gold plating thickness for connector and contact applications is a key design consideration. Gold plating is an exceptional finish for connectors of that demand both high reliability and durability; however, the thickness of the gold plating will impact the durability and ultimate cycle life of the connector. Gold plated connectors have low contact resistance which is suitable for applications with low signal voltages and current in the millivolt and milliamp range. Because gold is a noble metal, it does not readily react with chemicals in most environments, meaning that gold plated connectors will retain their conductivity over time provide the thickness of the gold provides a sufficient barrier to the substrate from the environment.

Gold Plating Chicago, IL

Advanced Plating Technologies (APT), located just north of the greater Chicago, Illinois area, provides gold plating in both 99.7% pure hard gold and 99.9% pure soft gold electrodeposits. APT provides “loose piece” barrel, rack and vibratory functional gold plating services for various industries within the Chicago, Illinois and across the country including interconnect/telecom, microelectronics, medical, defense and oil and gas industries.

Industries Served by APT