Tellurium Copper Plating

The utilization of a tellurium-copper substrate provides a soft, ductile metal that's used in numerous industrial processes and applications. Tellurium-copper substrates provides excellent thermal properties and high electrical conductivity, which make it a leading choice for manufacturing products such as:

Wire & cable
Circuit boards
Conductors
Building materials
Electric motors
Integrated circuits
Piping
And many more

Copper is also extremely plentiful, and it's one of the few metals found in a usable form, meaning that it does not need to be extracted from ores. These characteristics make the use of copper in manufacturing a highly cost-effective process.

Note: This process is in reference to plating tellurium-copper as a substrate and not utilizing tellurium-copper as a plating mechanism for other substrates.

Tellurium-Copper Plating Advantages

Tellurium copper maintains all the advantages of standard copper with the added benefit of ultra-efficient machinability. The high machinability and the fast WEDM speeds of tellurium copper substrates make it an ideal substrate for highly detailed, difficult to flush electrodes. In addition, any metal besides cadmium can be added as a tellurium-copper plating. Other benefits related to plating tellurium copper, include the following:

Tellurium-Copper Plating is Cost Efficient

Tellurium copper substrates on the market. They are in an abundant supply and more leveling can be obtained for the cost of the metal electroplated than for any other metal.

Tellurium-Copper Plating is Less Harmful for the Environment

Compared to other metals, tellurium-copper plating is healthier for the environment. Tellurium-copper plating metals and copper metal plating baths can often be recycled or discarded based off EPA regulations.

Tellurium-Copper Plating is an Excellent Substrate

Copper provides an easy-to-plate, highly level and bright substrate. It is an excellent substrate to hide the defects that can accelerate corrosion. In addition, buffing the copper increases the metal’s substrate abilities.

Tellurium-Copper Plating Provides High Electrical Conductivity

Copper’s electrical conductivity is exceeded only by silver, which makes it an inexpensive coating for products such as printed circuit boards. It can also be used as a topcoat on steel wire, it produces high-strength, conductive electrical cable.

Plating Processes for Plating onto Tellurium-Copper Substrate

The electroplating of tellurium-copper substrates is a common practice when manufacturing parts for industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense and electronics. Typical metals used for plating tellurium copper include:

Nickel - An electroplated nickel coating will increase the copper substrate's corrosion resistance and operating temperature. However, because of nickel's hardness, nickel-plated conductors tend to exhibit greater crimp termination variability than other metal materials.
Multiple Coating Layers - Some copper electroplating processes entail a sequential deposition of multiple metals onto the substrate. This will reduce the reaction between the base metal and the surface while still maintaining the beneficial properties of the surface plating.
Electroless Nickel - Electroless nickel is often applied to copper electronic components as a final step in the manufacturing process. This involves the application of electroless nickel with immersion gold to copper traces.
Tin - A coating of tin will increase the operating temperature of a copper substrate and improve its solderability. Tin is also less expensive than many other metals, making it a suitable copper electroplating process for cost-conscious companies. Tin plating should only be used on base materials that are not exposed to high-temp processing after the application of the coating.
Silver - The silver plating of copper will increase the operating temperature of copper alloy conductors. Silver also provides superior solderability and excellent electrical conductivity. When used for plating a copper conductor, silver will enhance the high-frequency transmission capabilities of the wire.

Copper C14500 Plating Process

Copper C14500 plating can be a challenging process. The formation of oxides on the surface often prevents good adhesion. The stripping of the defective plate can provide a better, cleaner surface for plating.