FAQ

Q: If you have copper, plated with nickel, then a flash of “hard “ gold topped with “soft” gold, should the gold ever lift off when using a gold ball bonder?

A: It depends on what type of nickel you are using, it should always be a clean sulfamate nickel solution. Never sulfate. You also should not need a hard gold strike under the soft gold, this could cause problems. The gold strike solution needs to be as pristine as possible with no to low metal contamination. The soft gold thickness is also something to pay attention to and depends on the wire bonding process as well as how the substrate is processed before bonding.