Driving Innovation: Depth Routing Processes—Achieving Unparalleled Precision in Complex PCBs
It's Only Common Sense: The Evolution of Prospecting
Dan's Biz Bookshelf: 'Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company'
Has the Time Finally Come for Tin-nickel Plating?
December 9, 2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
In the 1980s, Electrochemicals, Inc. (now Electrochemical Products) made a significant shift from furniture and industrial goods to electronics and manufacturing. During this journey, a tin-nickel plating alloy was developed. In 1984, Mike Carano, a young engineer, published a paper on tin-nickel plating alloy, but after some initial attention, the plating solution fell into obscurity.
Today, PCB fabrication looks largely the same, yet changes are afoot, chiefly due to the demands for very fine feature capability on printed circuit boards, as well as environmental sustainability. So, in this fascinating conversation with Mike Carano and Happy Holden, we take another look at tin-nickel and its advantages in both performance and sustainability.
Marcy LaRont: Mike, please explain the unique metal properties of the tin-nickel alloy and why fabricators should consider this as a surface finish solution today.
Mike Carano: Tin-nickel is a metastable alloy. It is monatomic, meaning that no matter what you do with the chemistry or how you manipulate the grams per liter of one metal or the other (or the amps per square foot), it always comes out as 65% of one metal and 35% of the other. I’m not aware this is true with any other combination of metals.
Typically, if your chemistry is out of balance—if you have more tin in the solution than you have lead—you will plate more tin. It’s precisely why there are so many alloys out there. In that respect, tin-nickel is pretty amazing.
Happy Holden: When I was at Hewlett-Packard, Dr. Morton Adler from Bell Labs called me and said he wanted us to fab his boards using tin-nickel, because he knew we were using it. I plated the boards with tin-nickel and added a gold strike. This thin gold was cobalt-hardened and the final thickness was still only 3–5 microinches when we finished. About a month after I sent them back to Adler, I got another call. He said, “What the hell did you send me? We’ve completed our reliability testing and your 3–5 microinches on tin-nickel outperforms our 120 microinches of sulfamate nickel on our contacts and other relays.”
Continue reading this conversation in the November 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine.
Share on:
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
DARPA, State of New Mexico Establish Framework to Advance Quantum Computing
09/08/2025 | DARPAAs part of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), DARPA signed an agreement with the State of New Mexico’s Economic Development Department to create the Quantum Frontier Project.
U.S. Army Awards Lockheed Martin $9.8B Contract to Bolster Missile Defense with PAC-3 MSE
09/08/2025 | Lockheed MartinThe U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $9.8 billion contract for the production of 1,970 Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptors and associated hardware.
Akrometrix Announces Next Generation Thermal Warpage Measurement Tool the PS600T
09/05/2025 | Akrometrix LLCAkrometrix, LLC, the leading provider of Thermal Warpage and Strain Metrology Equipment for semiconductor and electronics industries, recently announced the next generation in thermal warpage metrology with its PS600T system.
Driving Innovation: Depth Routing Processes—Achieving Unparalleled Precision in Complex PCBs
09/08/2025 | Kurt Palmer -- Column: Driving InnovationIn PCB manufacturing, the demand for increasingly complex and miniaturized designs continually pushes the boundaries of traditional fabrication methods, including depth routing. Success in these applications demands not only on robust machinery but also sophisticated control functions. PCB manufacturers rely on advanced machine features and process methodologies to meet their precise depth routing goals. Here, I’ll explore some crucial functions that empower manufacturers to master complex depth routing challenges.
Industry Icon Walt Custer Passes Away
09/02/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamWe regret to announce that Walt Custer passed away on Aug. 30, 2025. Walt’s son, Jonathan, shared the following: I am in complete shock that my dad, Walt Custer, is gone, and I am comforted that he died peacefully at 81 years old. Walt built CCG from the ground up 26 years ago, guided by his passion, hard work, and commitment to the printed circuit board community. His dedication not only established our company, but he frequently shared his experience as a chemist and industry executive veteran to provide market insights as an analyst, an avid speaker, a magazine columnist, a board and committee member and a data contributor for the electronics manufacturing community.