Plating having increased thickness and reduced grain size

Abstract

Contacts that may be highly corrosion resistant, less susceptible to wear, and may be readily manufactured with a process that controls or reduces resource usage. Corrosion resistance and wear performance may be improved by providing a thicker plating that has a reduced tendency to crack and by using materials that act as catalysts. Wear performance may be improved by reducing grain size for a harder plating. An amount of resources needed may be reduced or controlled by using materials that plate well and by using a manufacturing process having a reduced number of steps.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming a contact, the method comprising:
 plating the contact with a binary alloy by:   receiving a contact;   applying an alternating signal to the contact; and   at least partially submerging the contact in a bath, the bath comprising:   a first element in a first group consisting of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium; and   a second element in a second group consisting of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium, where the second element is different from the first element.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first group consists of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, and rhodium. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the second group consists of platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium, and rhodium. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first element is rhodium and the second element is ruthenium. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, before plating the contact with a binary alloy, stamping the contact. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising, after stamping the contact and before plating the contact with a binary alloy, plating at least a portion of the contact with a leveling agent. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the leveling agent is copper. 
     
     
         8 . A method of forming a contact, the method comprising:
 plating the contact with a binary alloy by:   selecting a first element by choosing a good catalyst that plates well;   selecting a second element by choosing an inorganic grain refiner that is a good catalyst,   applying an alternating signal to the contact; and   at least partially submerging the contact in a bath comprising the binary alloy.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the first element is one of a group consisting of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, and rhodium. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the second element is one of a group consisting of platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium, and rhodium. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the first element is rhodium and the second element is ruthenium. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the binary alloy is approximately 99 percent rhodium and approximately 1 percent ruthenium. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the binary alloy is approximately 90 percent rhodium and approximately 10 percent ruthenium. 
     
     
         14 . A method of forming a contact, the method comprising:
 stamping a contact;   plating at least a first portion of the contact with a leveling agent; and   plating a least a portion of the first portion of the contact with a binary alloy by:   applying a signal to the contact; and   at least partially submerging the contact in a bath.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the binary alloy comprises:
 a first element in a first group consisting of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium; and 
 a second element in a second group consisting of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium, where the second element is different from the first element. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the first group consists of platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, and rhodium. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the second group consists of platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium, and rhodium. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the first element is rhodium and the second element is ruthenium. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the binary alloy is approximately 90 percent rhodium and approximately 10 percent ruthenium. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the leveling agent is copper.