Exploring Advanced PCB Final Finishing: DIG, RAIG Technologies

Estimated reading time: Less than a minute

As customer requirements bump up against manufacturing standards and upper-limit plating capabilities in today's rapidly evolving manufacturing landscape, understanding alternatives to traditional best practices is critical for continued success. In this interview, Rich DePoto of Uyemura provides a deep overview and explanation of Reduction-assisted Immersion Gold (RAIG) and direct immersion gold (DIG) technology, and their applications and benefits when compared to traditional final finishes. He delves into the intricacies of electroless nickel corrosion and “black pad,” exploring its causes, consequences, and the measures that can be taken to mitigate this problem. This comprehensive overview will provide insight toward sound decision-making for those operating in environments where perfect process control is a challenge.

Please explain DIG and RAIG plating technologies and how they compare with more traditional final finish technologies.

Reduction-assisted Immersion Gold (RAIG) is a platform of final finish processes that are the next generation of immersion gold electrolytes. RAIG electrolytes were developed to address three important limitations of conventional immersion gold electrolytes.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the October 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.