Why is Gold Used in PCB Fabrication?

Gold is an important element in the design of printed circuit boards, and looking closely at most PCBs will reveal that the ‘fingers’ on the board include metal contacts fabricated from gold. These fingers are typically multi-layered metals that may include materials such as tin-lead, cobalt, or nickel, plated with a final layer of gold. These gold contacts are critical to the functionality of the resulting PCB, establishing the connection with the product containing the board.

By its very nature, gold is ideally suited for electronics applications:

• It is easily formed and manipulated for connectors, wires, and relay contacts
• Gold conducts electricity very efficiently (an obvious requirement for PCB applications)
• It can carry small amounts of current, essential for today’s electronic devices
• Other metals can be alloyed with gold such as nickel or cobalt
• It does not tarnish or corrode, making it a reliable connection medium
• Melting and reclaiming gold for reuse is a relatively simple process
• Only silver and copper provide higher conductivity properties, but each of them are prone to corrosion, generating current resistance
• Even thin applications of gold can provide reliable and stable contacts with low resistance
• Gold connections can tolerate high temperatures
• Variations in thickness can be utilized to meet the requirements of specific applications