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Plating fine conductors: tin, silver, nickel and why thickness matters
Plating is chosen for solderability, corrosion or temperature, and the thickness matters as much as the metal.
Tin plating is the standard choice for solderability. It keeps the surface solderable through storage and handling, which matters for a conductor that will be soldered repeatedly during assembly. It is the default unless something rules it out.
Silver is chosen for high-frequency performance and for better conductivity at the surface, where skin effect puts the current. Nickel is chosen for temperature: it survives conditions that would degrade tin, at the cost of being harder to solder.
Thickness is where specifications usually go wrong. Too thin and the plating is consumed during the first solder operation or wears through at a flex point; too thick and it stiffens a fine conductor and reduces its flex life. On a tinsel conductor, where the foil is already extremely thin, plating thickness is a significant fraction of the total and has to be specified rather than assumed.
Specifications
| Tin | Standard, for solderability through storage and handling |
|---|---|
| Silver | High-frequency performance, surface conductivity |
| Nickel | Temperature resistance, harder to solder |
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