http://www.pcbdesignschool.com/2009/08/01/when-to-apply-enig/
ENIG - Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold. This is the name technically used for the gold plating electronic components. I don't recall reading that here so I thought I'd help anyone researching this topic with a little lingo.
"ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) is applied to the bare copper of a printed circuit board during the fabrication process. When in the fabrication process should be a concern to the contract manufacturer or OEM responsible for assembling the components onto the bare board. If a fabrication drawing states that the printed circuit board shall have SMOBC (Solder Mask Over Bare Copper) then ENIG must be applied after the application of solder mask. There are some exceptions to the rule."
View attachment 2
ENIG will always rest atop any circuitry needing a solder mask covering, suffice it to say that most of your gold will rest on the surface however that is not the complete picture. devices also contain ENIG below the solder mask as well - such as the pcb used for a touch pad mouse on a lap top. most pcb necessitating ENIG will also most likely contain it under all soldered locations as well so that silver soldered section may also have a layer of gold underneath it too...
ENIG - Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold. This is the name technically used for the gold plating electronic components. I don't recall reading that here so I thought I'd help anyone researching this topic with a little lingo.
"ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) is applied to the bare copper of a printed circuit board during the fabrication process. When in the fabrication process should be a concern to the contract manufacturer or OEM responsible for assembling the components onto the bare board. If a fabrication drawing states that the printed circuit board shall have SMOBC (Solder Mask Over Bare Copper) then ENIG must be applied after the application of solder mask. There are some exceptions to the rule."
View attachment 2
ENIG will always rest atop any circuitry needing a solder mask covering, suffice it to say that most of your gold will rest on the surface however that is not the complete picture. devices also contain ENIG below the solder mask as well - such as the pcb used for a touch pad mouse on a lap top. most pcb necessitating ENIG will also most likely contain it under all soldered locations as well so that silver soldered section may also have a layer of gold underneath it too...
