RoHS compliant shielding is more economical

Nickel Silver is fast becoming the preferred alloy for the majority of board level shielding tasks according to PRECISION MICRO, the Birmingham based precision metal components manufacturer. The material is said to be replacing traditional plated steel and yellow metals across the board and certainly for those applications above 15 MHz where shielding effectiveness becomes more of a skin (conductivity) effect than a bulk effect.

Nickel Silver is less conductive than copper and brass but far stronger. It is an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel, the ‘silver’ terminology being descriptive of its appearance rather than its constituents. Nickel Silver is far more corrosion resistant than either steel copper or brass, and exhibits excellent solderability characteristics for ease of assembly.

Although this RoHS compliant material is marginally more expensive, it doesn’t need plating to improve its solderability or corrosion resistance, so invariably finished shielding cans manufactured in nickel silver are less expensive. There is also a time saving, generated by removing a complete process stage, which can be important when ‘time to market’ is critical.