Compatibility of Gold, Palladium and hard Silver based plating systems for connector applications

Antoine Fares Karam (1) , Anthony Franchini (1) , Ana Torrealba (1, 2) , Damien Comte (1) , Aurore Brézard-Oudot (2) , Sophie Noël (2) , Doyle Anderson (1) , Jeffrey Toran (1)

1 Amphenol-Socapex
2 GeePs - Laboratoire Génie électrique et électronique de Paris

Plating systems of electrical contacts are key technologies for connectors in terms of electrical and mechanical reliability performance. Au/Ni is historically the reference plating system and Au/PdNi/Ni is widely used since 1986. More recently, plating systems like Au/Ag/Ni, Au/NiW, AgPd/Ni and AgSb/Ni were also introduced. Nevertheless, published scientific literature, concerning tribological compatibility of these various plating systems, is limited. This research work is a simplified approach to study compatibility, in terms of durability & wear, between Au/Ni, AuPdNi/Ni, Au/Ag/Ni and AgSb/Ni under different contact pressures or normal forces. Durability and frictional wear testing were performed. Various surface analysis techniques were used to analyze wear tracks and investigate wear mechanisms as well as their impact on contact resistance. Results show that terminal contact pressure range is a key parameter to take into account when mating two different platings.

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Matériaux; Energie électrique

Antoine Fares Karam, Anthony Franchini, Ana Torrealba, Damien Comte, Aurore Brézard-Oudot, et al.. Compatibility of Gold, Palladium and hard Silver based plating systems for connector applications. 30th International Conference on Electrical Contacts - ICEC 2020, Jun 2021, online, Switzerland. pp.260-267. ⟨hal-03329869⟩