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Diffused Gold R156 .
A New Inlay Contact Material
For Bell System Connectors
Frank E. Bader
Information from the
Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc.
6200 East Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43213, USA
Abstract
Field and laboratory investigations indicated that Palladium and R156 (Pd40Ag) have marginal performance for high reliability connector applications because of contact resistance (CR) instability due to micromotions and/or atmospheric corrosion in some environments. A series of binary and ternary inlay alloys with gold were developed to minimize these problems, and subjected to a screening evaluation consisting of corrosion, wear, thermal aging, and micromotions due to vibration. One alloy, having a gold rich surface, with an interior of R156, proved to have excellent contact properties combined with low coast. This material, called Diffused Gold R156 (DGR156), was selected for a comprehensive qualification test on the printed circuit board (PCB) connectors used in BellPac(tm)equipment. Its performance was virtually indistinguishable from plated cobalt hardened gold. Western Electric has switched from plated gold to the DGR156 inlay on the connector contact, resulting in significant savings in precious metal cost, as well as processing advantages.
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