Impact Coatings AB, Sweden, has developed Silver MaxPhase, a silver-colored coating that the company says can replace gold plating in electrical contacts for critical contact surfaces. Applied via PVD (physical vapor deposition), it is said to significantly reduce manufacturing cost, while maintaining low contact resistance and high resistance to corrosion and wear. The company does not reveal what materials are in the coating; however, it has been granted a patent for the coating.
Silver MaxPhase typically replaces gold on nickel-plated copper-based connectors. It also works well as a contact coating directly on materials such as stainless steel, totally eliminating the use of wet plating processes. The contact coating is qualified for low voltage and low contact force connectors that were earlier gold plated, e.g. battery and I/O connectors for mobile. Qualification continues for telecom, industrial, consumer, computers, etc.
Impact Coatings has developed a complete volume manufacturing solution for coating of Silver MaxPhase for connectors, including cost-efficient reel-to-reel PVD coating equipment.
