Highly Uniform Gold Coatings for Electronics Reliability and Protection from Space Environments

Coating electronic enclosures in a uniform layer of gold provides environmental protection to ensure reliability. However, the domestic gold electroplating industry is dedicated to small or two-dimensional substrates, and a robust domestic manufacturing capability to uniformly electroplate gold coatings onto complex external surfaces of electronic enclosures, or other three-dimensional structures, is lacking. The proposed innovation is a scalable manufacturing process for electroplating uniform gold coatings directly onto surfaces of electronic enclosures fabricated from materials like aluminum/aluminum alloys. This manufacturing process employs engineered electric fields to improve control of gold coating properties (porosity, uniformity, mechanical properties, purity) compared to conventional electroplating. Since the process produces gold coatings with low-to-no porosity and uniform thickness, weight and cost savings are realized compared to conventional processes, which is important for space applications. The process includes a pretreatment method with minimal steps, eliminates toxic chemicals like hydrofluoric acid and reduces the waste associated with current practice. This program will demonstrate uniform gold electroplating, evaluate coating properties, adhesion, and performance under environmental exposures, and model/design a prototype manufacturing system for electronic enclosures. Approved for Public Release | 22-MDA-11215 (27 Jul 22)