Editorial Team - PCB Directory
Jan 15, 2020
Gold Fingers are the gold plated narrow connectors found on the edge of printed circuit boards to enable connections between multiple boards. They are made from flesh gold, the hardest form of gold available and work for a long time with superior conductivity. The thickness of gold fingers usually ranges from 3 to 50 microns.
Gold is chosen for these fingers as it has the highest corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity after Copper and Silver. Sometimes, Gold is combined with Cobalt and Nickel to increase the resistance of the fingers for wear and tear. PCBs are connected/disconnected from each other multiple times. So these connection points (fingers) need to be able to handle some wear and tear.
What is PCB Gold Finger Beveling?
The PCB Gold Fingers plating process starts after the solder mask deposition and before the surface finish. It includes the following steps:
Design Specifications for PCB Gold Fingers:
PCBs with Non-uniform Gold Fingers:
For some PCBs, the gold fingers are intended to be shorter than others. The most relevant example of such PCB is the one used for memory card readers, where the device linked with long fingers must be powered first to those connected with the shorter fingers.
PCBs with Segmented Gold Fingers
Segmented gold fingers vary in length and some of them are also disjoined within the same fingers of the same PCB. Such PCBs are suitable for water-resistant and rugged electronics.
Quality Measures for PCB Gold Fingers:
The Association Connecting Electronics Industries (IPC) has prescribed some standards for the production of PCB Gold Fingers. The IPC standards are summarized as follows:
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