Cost Effective Use of Gold in Thick Film Conductors

The scope of this paper is the use of different forms of gold in thick film pastes for decorative colors and electronics. Gold can be made into a powder form, which is ideally suited for thick film pastes, by using chemical precipitation process with different shapes and particle sizes as well as into gold resinates and metal-organic complexes. Gold powder and resinates are used to make thick film paste for screen printing application with optimize back light density. Although gold is more expansive than other precious metals it provides a stable and reliable fired film. Fired films produced from gold do not suffer from migration because gold does not easily form a free Au ion. Gold thick film conductor pastes in general are used in high reliability applications such as military, high frequencies, interconnection- microwaves, and medical.

Gold is a noble element with the symbol Au and it is part of the transitional metal group with the atomic number of 79. It is a precious metal that’s been desired since the beginning of history. It is well documented in the history books that gold has been used in sculptures, jewelry, and coins. The modern uses for gold include dentistry, decorative and electronics.