Review of Capabilities of the ENEPIG Surface Finish

Surface finishes are used to protect exposed copper metallization in printed circuit boards from oxidation and to provide a solderable surface on which to mount electronic components. While it is true that some people have called electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG) a universal finish for a wide range of applications from wire bonding to solder interconnects, this paper provides a review of the current literature on ENEPIG and assesses its overall capabilities compared to other surface finishes. Gaps in understanding the performance of ENEPIG as a printed wiring board surface finish are identified and further testing is recommended.