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SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver

Cyanide-Free Silver Plating Process

Content

BackgroundOperating ParametersPerformanceSummary

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Background

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Electroplated silver is used in an increasingly diverse range of applications and industrial segments for both decorative and functional finishes.

Replacing the traditional cyanide electrolyte brings significant benefits to the electroplate process.

Excellent solderabilityGood adhesion over Copper and Nickel (with strike plate)Low contact resistanceBright to Semi-Bright, white appearanceWide operating windowHigh efficiency

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Operating Parameters

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Chemicals RequiredCurrent Density

0.5 – 2 A/dm2

Current Density

2 – 15 A/dm2

Silver (as Ag metal) 20 g/L 40 g/L

Free complexing agent 75 g/L 75 g/L

SILVERONTM GT-101 Brightener 10 mL/L ---

SILVERONTM GT-101 HS Brightener --- 20 mL/L

SILVERONTM GT-101 HS Additive --- 40 mL/L

pH 9.5 9.5

Temperature 50°C 50°C

Anode Pure silver anode Pure silver anode

Cathode efficiency Ca.100% Ca.100%

Plating rate 0.6µm in 1 minute at 1A/dm2 5µm in 1 minute at 8A/dm29µm in 1 minute at 15A/dm2(>10A/dm2, jet or wire plating)

Optimum operating parameters for SILVERONTM GT-101 Silver Bath

Performance

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SILVERON GT-101 Bright Silver deposit over nickel on connector pins

Appearance

SILVERON GT-101 Bright SilverProduction testing for decorative application

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver exhibits white and semi-bright to mirror bright appearance

Grain Structure

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Grain structure of silver deposit from SILVERONTM GT-101 Bright Silver

SILVERONTM GT-101 Bright Silver showing uniform grain structure Average grain size, 50nm

Purity

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Silver Plating ProductCarbon Content

(% w/w)

Other co-deposited

metals

Purity

SILVERONTM GT-101 Bright Silver 0.013 No > 99.9% silver

SILVER GLO 3K Bright Silver (Cyanide based reference deposit)

0.005 Yes ---

Carbon content and purity of deposit from SILVERON GT-101 Bright Silver

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver delivers high purity, low carbon deposits.

Corrosion

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As PlatedAfter 8hrs

steam ageing

Silver deposits from SILVERON GT-101 Bright Silver show the absence of discolouration after steam ageing

Contact

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10

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

mO

hm

Loading (cN)

Contact Resistance

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver deposits exhibit low contact resistance

Solderability

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Typical wetting performance of SILVERONTM GT-101 Silver deposit

ZCT = 0.05 s

Wire Bonding

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Machine

Gold wire

Bond force mode

Ultrasonic power

Distance of 1st (ball) and 2nd bond (wedge)

Pull test

ESEC WB3088 iP

25µm

Controlled force

1st bond 32%; 2nd bond 25%

1.0mm

18 tests for each sample

Sample As Plated 150°C / 2 hr 150°C / 2 hr+ 10 min plasma clean

CuAgAg: 0.3µm

PF (cN) PF (cN) PF (cN)

Average 11.02 2.21 5.18

Stdev 0.97 0.59 0.65

CuAgAg: 1.0µm

PF (cN) PF (cN) PF (cN)

Average 13.35 2.86 10.14

Stdev 0.61 0.67 0.66

Gold wire bond pull force on SILVERON GT-101 Silver deposits

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver shows excellent gold wire boding capability.

Reflectance

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Reflectance of SILVERONTM GT-101 Silver deposits versus a silver reference

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

360 400 440 480 520 560 600 640 680 720

Refle

ctan

ce （

%）

Wave length （nm）

Silveron GT-101 Silver on Nickel

Silveron GT-101 Silver on Copper

Silveron GT-101 Silver on Copper (150°C/2h)

Reference Silver (Silver Glo 3110)

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver shows reflectance values required for LED applications.

Micro Hardness

1414

0

50

100

150

200

250

Silveron GT-101 Cyanide Silver Hard Gold

Room Temp 1hr @ 150C

Har

dnes

s (H

V)H

ardn

ess

(HV)

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Micro hardness (HV)

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver deposits show higher hardness than deposits from a cyanide electrolyte, after annealing

Friction and Wear

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15

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Silveron GT-101 Cyanide Silver Hard Gold

Room Temp 1hr @ 150C

Wea

r R

ate

(mm

3 /N

/mx

10-6)

Wea

r ra

te (

mm

3/

N/

m X

10-

6 ) Wear Rate vs. Steel (100Cr)

SILVERON™ GT-101 Bright Silver deposits show lower wear rate compared todeposits from a cyanide electrolyte, especially after annealing

SummarySILVERONTM GT-101 Bright Silver has been developed to meet the growing requirements for a cyanide free silver electrolyte delivering stable and predictable results over a wide operating window.

This new product is now in production in diverse industry segments for both decorative and functional finishes demonstrating excellent performance.

Cyanide-Free Excellent solderability Good adhesion over copper and nickel (with strike plate) Low contact resistance Bright to semi-bright, white appearance Wide operating window 100% cathode efficiency

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