LEARNINGS REVIEW

THINGS INSIDE


Pre-cleaning processes.


Machine configurations.


Plating process.


Quality tests.
Pre-cleaning

Plating is done over the surface of the component in micron

level.

Any dust or presence of impurities may result in output quality

issues.

The overall process flow of pre-cleaning is as follows

For fresh lot(SS)

PROCEED
INPUT MATERIAL UNPACKING INSPECTION IF ‘ok’ FOR
CLEANING
Cases that are OK
Electro
inspection Wiping
cleaning

DM water Spider
drier
rinse loading

Sulphuric DM water
acid cleaning rinse

DM water Hydrochloric
rinse acid cleaning
Drier
• 170°c for 50-60 minutes
• 250°c for 30 minutes
Cases rejected in inspection

PP rejection
Buffing Inspection & jig Galvex + ultrasonic
(issues from polishing loading vibration
and press shop)

Loaded for plating Inspection Drier DM water rinse

After plating

Unloading from If ok ,packed

inspection If not OK
the spider and sent

Input
stripping Buffing Galvex cleaning
inspection

Inspection and
DM water rinse drier loading in
spider
Process explanations
• For galvex cleaning , components are loaded in jigs so that the cases
won’t fall due to vibration.
• In other cleaning processes ,cases are loaded in spindles.
• DM water bath is used for any cleaning and rinsing process.
• pH of DM water is 7(neutral) and conductivity is zero or very low.
• Normal water contains minerals in it which may react with acids and
cases causing quality issue
• That’s why de-mineralised water is used.
Galvex cleaning
Bath : hot water + ultrasonic vibration
Chemical used : galvex
Bath temperature : 60° C
Concentration : 12.5 litres in 250 litres
Time duration : 30 mins
• To remove the buffing component,oil,grease..etc, present in the case
caused by polishing.
• Ultrasonic vibrations is to remove components present in minute gaps
of the material.
Electro cleaning
• Chemical used : electro cleaner salt
• Bath : hot water bath
• Concentration : 5 kg in 250 litres
• Bath temperature : 50-60 °c
• Cathode : electro cleaner salt
• Anode : component(case)
• Current : 15-20 ampere.
• Time duration : 3 minutes
To remove the oxide layer .
To remove dirt , loose particle , finger prints etc..,
Sulphuric acid cleaning
Acid : H2SO4
Concentration : 5 litres in 250 litres
Time duration : 40-60 sec
Usage : To remove the soapy layer from the component.
Hydrochloric acid cleaning
• Acid : HCl
• Concentration : 5 litres in 250 litres
• Time duration : 40-60 sec
• Purpose : Acid pickling
Fine scale removal, Making the surface prepared for plating.
Stripping
• If it has gold
• Salt : sodium cyanide + gold stripper
• Bath capacity : 10 litres
• Time duration : 1-2 minutes
• Concentration : 60 g of stripper salt per litre of DM water.
• For SS and other metal stripping
• Acids : 5l of HNO3+ 2.5l of HF
• Time duration : 2-3 minutes
Machine configurations
1. Vacuum chamber -front door
-6 CAE flanges -
chamber chassis -heating tubes
-work piece turn table -
bottom flange for thermocouple sensor -automatic
shutter attached to ceiling -4 MS bottom flange
(left side of the door) -2 MS bottom flanges(right side
of the door) -Rectangular Gas Ion Source bottom
flange.
Supporting parts

2. Pumps P1-roughing pump

P2-backing pump P3-
roots pump P4-turbo molecular pump
3. Valves V1-upper
valve(roughing&roots) V2-lower valve(backing)
V3-vacuum valve(TMP) V4-
throttle valve V5-vent valve(venting)
V6-N2 valve(venting)
• All the valves are pneumatic driven.
Side view of machine 1 Chamber chassis

3 Front door

4 Turn table top

7 V3 High vacuum valve

8 V4 Throttle valve

10 V5 Vent or N2 valve

11 Chamber vacuum
gauges(ion gauge)
15 Turbo molecular pump

20 CAE flanges

48 IPC chamber
Top view of the machine
5 Upper valve V1
6 Lower valve V2
12 Backing pump
13 Roughing pump
14 Roots pump
15 Turbo molecular pump
16 MS source
17 GIS flange
18 Bottom SMS flange
19 Light vertical
multistage centrifugal
pump
20 CAE flanges
24 Vacuum pipe at V1
inlet
25 T shape vacuum pipe
at V1 outlet
26 Turbo outlet bellows
Top view of chamber
MS Magnetron
source
CAE Cathode arc
evaporator
GIS Gas ion source
Roughing pump

• Name : leybold single stage pump SOGEVAC

SV200
• Function: To evacuate the chamber from normal atmospheric
pressure through valve V1.
Backing pump Name:
leybold double stage pump TRIVAC D16
Function : backing the evacuation rate during V1
closing and V3 opening.
Roots pump
• Name : leybold roots vacuum pump
• Evacuation speed : 150 lpa
• Ultimate vacuum : 6×10^-2 pa
• Rotation speed : 1450 rpm
• Electric power consumption : 3 kw
• Function : starts to accelerate the evacuation process in serial
connection ,until the vacuum reaches 6 pa.
Turbo molecular pump
• Name : STP – IXA 2206C
• Speed : 27000 rpm
• Evacuation rate : 200000 litres/sec
• Weight : 62 kg
• Power supply : 220-240v (ac)
• Power consumption : 1200 VA
• Ultimate vacuum : 4×10^-3 pa.
• Function : To reach medium high vacuum(10^-3) by closing V1.
4. Gas feeding system
• It’s a four channel gas mass flow control system.
Channel 1 2 3 4
sccm sccm sccm sccm

Capacity 500 50 300 500

gases N2 C2H2 Ar Ar

• sccm stands for standard cubic centi meter per minute.

5.Gauges used
• Thermocouple gauge
• Ionisation gauge
• C . diaphragm gauge

Thermocouple gauge -measures the

temperature inside the chamber and near to the heater.
-operates at the range of 10^3-10^-1
-works until high vacuum is reached.
Ionisation gauge
-measures high vacuum and is capable of measuring at the range of
10-10^-5.
-turns on when high vacuum is started and measures till it reaches
its ultimate set vacuum.
CD gauge
-used to measure gases and liquids. -turns on
when the inert or any other gases enters the chamber. -operating
range is similar to ion gauge.
6.Targets
• Two types of magnetron sources are available inside the chamber.
• Single direction tube type unbalanced magnetron
• Rectangular unbalanced magnetron source.

Targets we use:
• Stainless steel (309)
• Titanium
• Gold 3N-98.9% 2N-98.30%
• Rose gold 87.50% of Au and remaining copper.
• Chrome.
7.Cathodic arc evaporator
• Totally 6 CAE are present inside the chamber (3 on left and 3 on right)
• 3 CAE are used for etching and other three are for coating.
• CAE coating is not done here.
• Size : 300×500×700 mm^3
• Weight: 40 kg
• Electric power consumption:6 kVA
• Electric input = 380-400 v(ac)
• Output =80 v (dc)
• Function : It’s the final process right before plating . Etches the surface
of the component for the better adhesion property of the material.
8. Gas ion source
• Name = LISE830/102
• Size = 102×92×830mm^3
• Power supply= pulsed dc bias power supply
• Function : gets ignited with the power supply and ionizes the gases
present inside the chamber.
Chiller unit
• Consists of two compressors which works alternatively.
• Provides chill water to all the parts of the chamber at 19-21°c
• Chill water is provided to maintain the chamber and parts in an optimum condition
because of the high temperature maintained inside the chamber.

Poly cold (cryogenic system)

• Poly cold or cold trap helps in maintaining the vacuum inside the chamber.
• It maintains a temperature of about -120°c
• Function : freezes the minute water molecules present inside the chamber and holds it
during coating process.
• The frozen molecules are later evacuated through pumps while venting.
Plating process –total cycle time
Low vacuum
Heating
High vacuum-1 Glow etching
simultaneously

High vacuum-2 Arc etching coating waiting

Load /unload
Low vacuum
• The first initial process after the loading
• Roughing and roots pump initially creates the vacuum from normal
atmospheric pressure.
• Vacuum is created because the plating process requires only certain
gases ,allowance atmospheric gases may react with the gases inside.
• The process is micron level coating so that it is mandatory to maintain
the chamber and components dust free.
• Thermo gauge measures the pressure inside the chamber, during low
vacuum.
• This gauge until the chamber reaches 10^-1 at a duration of 15-20
minutes.
Heating
• The chamber is simultaneously heated for 45 minutes along with the
creation of vacuum by the pumps.
• The chamber is heated to about 350°c.
• Its majorly done to de-gas the chamber and to warm up the
components that are loaded inside.
• Temperature of the chamber will be gradually decreased from low
vacuum to coating as per requirements.
High vacuum-1
• V1 closes and V2&V3 valves opens,the turbo molecular pumps starts
to
• Turbo molecular pumps won’t operate at atmospheric pressure due
to the minute stator and rotor blades present in it.
• It creates an high vacuum up to 8×10^-3(first vacuum).
• The time duration of this process is 12-14 minutes.
Glow etching
• Also known as high pressure etching.
• Bias supply: 450-550 volts
• Current mainted : 3-5 amps for cases & 3-7 amps for straps.
• Time duration : 12 minutes
• Pressure maintained : 2×10^0 pascal.
• Ar gas feed : 300 sccm.
• Process : bias is applied to the work piece turn table and the inert gas
is allowed inside the chamber. Argon gas atoms gets ionised by the
bias resulting in the formation through out the chamber. The ionised
gas atoms gets accelerated and taps the surface of the component like
a small warm up for it get ready for plating.
High vacuum - 2
• After glow etching the turbo molecular pumps again creates an optimum
pressure level inside the chamber that is ideal for plating.
• This process takes time duration of about 3-6 minutes.

Arc etching
• The first five steps of the coating process is arc etching.
• The surface of the component is etched by titanium atoms.
• The titanium targets are ignited by applying current to It , the ignited
atoms travels through gas medium present inside the chamber and
etches the component.
Arc etching cycle
• Etching cycles are planned based on the nature of base material.

• The cycle can be either increased or decreased in order to avoid peel off issue
COMPONENT NO OF CYCLES
CC-Brass 1

CC-SS 3

Brass-bi colour 1

SS- Bi colour 2

Straps 3
Parameters:
• Current to the targets = 75-80 ampere.
• Bias applied to the chamber = 500 volts.
• Ar gas allowance = 300 sccm

Coating :
• The targets attached with magnetron source gets ignited by the
electromagnetic field created in the target by voltage to it.
• The ionised gas atoms inside the chamber forms plasma which acts as
medium for the movement of titanium atoms.
• The bombard of Ar atoms on the target releases the target atoms , these
released atoms are aligned and hold uniformly by magnetron set up.
• The ionised target atoms gets deposited on the surface of the substrate passes by.

• This process is straight opposite to the process of etching.

• The automatic shutter position’s itself as set in recipe.
Parameters :
• Cathode : magnetron target
• Anode : component
• Power to cathode : 5-13 kw
• Bias to anode : 120-180 volts
• Temperature maintained : 180°c
• Pressure maintained : 3.3-4.2×10^-1 pa.
Power supply
• The required high voltage for targets and substrate is provided by
power supplies.
• The types of power supplies are:
• DC Power Supply
• Pulse Mode Power Supply.
• Advantages of Pulse Mode Power Supply:
• As the required voltage can be reached instantly, (with out damage to
power supply and component) the cycle time can be reduced
Recipe
• The whole coating process is an automatic process.
• The program parameters for coating are pre-set in a recipe.
• It takes almost 18-23 steps for a complete process.
• Initially the component are etched with Ti arc targets
• Pre-sputtering of target is done to the remove the impurity.
• Later on the target gets sputtered and the deposition
happens.
Colours Plated
Base material Stainless steel (micron) Brass (micron)

GOLD 0.1 Au + 0.5 TiN + 0.15 Ti 0.1 Au +0.5 TiN + 0.15 Ti

+ 8-12 Ni
ROSE GOLD 0.1 Au + 0.5 TiCN + 0.15 Ti 0.1 Au +0.5 TiCN + 0.15 Ti
+ 8-12 Ni

GUN METAL 0.5 TiC + 0.15 Ti 0.5 TiC + 0.15 Ti + 8-12 Ni

BROWN 0.5 TiCN + 0.15 Ti 0.5 TiCN + 0.15 Ti + 8-12 Ni

BLACK 0.5 TiC + 0.15 Ti 0.5 TiC + 0.15 Ti + 8-12 Ni

IPS 0.5 SS + 0.5 Cr + 8-12 Ni

Layers of Gold plating
• Ti - A glue layer between base and further coating
• TiN - Very hard, ~ 2500 HV, having columnar structure and
golden yellow color. Has good abrasion resistance
• Au - Adds luster, brilliance and good look
• 0.5µ OF TiN + 0.1µ OF GOLD has same wear resistance as
0.5µ of electro plated
Colour values
Measured using the device : Spectrophotometer

L* - Indicates Brilliance
a* - +ve value indicates Red and -ve value indicates Green
b* - +ve value indicates Yellow, -ve value indicates Blue
Sputtering rate
• Both gold and rose gold are plated for 0.1 micron thickness.
• Gold targets are invaded about 5-6 kg.
• After puncturing the weight is about 3-4 kg.
• The rate of gold consumed per batch in pro china machines is 20.5
grams.
• Whereas in huicheng 35grams of gold is consumed per batch.
Target composition

• No pure gold targets are produced due to it’s ductile property.

• Gold alloy targets are made with following composition

Gold : 87-97 %
Copper : 3-8 %
Nickel : 3-5 %
Silver : 0.5-2%
IP Process Sequence:

Sl no Process Purpose
1 Pumping down Creating vacuum
2 Heating Baking, facilitates removal of water
molecules entrapped while cleaning,
Prepares surface for good grain
growth
3 Low pressure In-situ cleaning process, removes
etching (LPE) impurities and oxide layer on the
substrate
4 High pressure More severe than LPE. Removes
etching (HPE) atomic layers on the component and
exposes virgin base material
5 Pre-sputtering / Removes impurities on the target
Target cleaning surface (formed during the chamber
opening and while etching)
6 Ti Coating Acts as a glue layer between
substrate and further coating
7 TiN Hard, gold like coating
8 Au For lusture
Electro plating
• Three major process
o Pre-cleaning
o Plating
o Post-cleaning
Pre -cleaning

Galvex clean
Brass input inspection (chem:galvex,40-50 DM water rinse
gpl,temp-40°c)

Electro clean Acid clean

(chem:metex,30-40 DM water rinse (acid :galvaprep DM water rinse
gpl,current:2-3 707,40-50 gpl, time :
amps,temp:50°c) 40-60 sec)
Plating-Ni
• Salt = NiSO2 ,250-350 gpl NiCl, 50-100 gpl
• Acid : boric acid
• Current applied : 3-5 amps
• pH maintained : 3.8-5.2
• Density : 1.18-1.24
• Temperature : 55°c
• Time duration : 14-18 minutes
• Additive 22(200 ml)+spectra 77(5 ml)
Post – cleaning

Hot DM water rinse

(70-75°c)

Centrifugal chamber
(temp: 70-75°c,rpm: 40-60, time : 6 minutes clockwise and 9
minutes anti clockwise.)
Quality tests at shop
• Bend test is done for cases to ensure the adhesion
property.
• Tape test is done for straps and bracelets to check the
sticking nature.
• Undercoat test is done for sample components
regularly for gold plated components.
Quality tests
• Adhesion
-thermal shock test
Temp : 290°c
Duration :30 minutes

Process: The component is placed inside the chamber and the air
inside is heated for a while. After 30 mins the component is
immediately quenched in water.

Defects : peel off , blister ,bubbles

Corrosion
• Porosity test
Duration : 24hours
For SS base : sodium meta bi sulphate For brass : ammonia
Process : fumes would pass through minute pores of the component and results in
corrosion in that area.
• Perspiration test
Temp : 40°c
Duration : 24 hours
Process : artificial sweat solution is sprayed and kept in a closed chamber ,any defect
may result in corrosion.
Wear
• Thickness measurement
-Thickness is measured by passing x-ray on the component by using
xrf machine.
• Tumbling
-Component is kept in a chamber along with glass powder , balls
and nets and shaked well for 30 minutes at 42 rpm.
-Any damage in the case other than end lug is rejected.
• Rub test
-This test is done for straps using scotch brite for multiple as per
thickness plated.
Sl.No Test Criteria Specification
Appearance
1 a) Color Shall conform to standards.
b) General Shall be free from visual defects.
TiN : 0.5 µ m
2 Coating thickness
Gold : 0.1 µ m
3 Thermal Shock test (300 oC) Shall not show any Blisters or Peeling
4 Bend test Shall not show any Peel off
Shall not show any signs of peeling, cracks or
5 Porosity test
corrosion
6 Perspiration test Shall not tarnish or develop stains
Shall not show any corrosion such as pits,
7 NSS test
cracks, blisters
8 Wear resistance Coating shall not wear on the surface
THANK YOU