With GCS, it offers an alternative to existing gold and nickel plating, and finished in electronic connector applications. It combines the benefits of both gold and silver plating technologies, such as long-term wear, reliability benefits, lower resistance and higher current carrying capacities.

Compared with the conventional soft silver-plating, the new technology makes use of a special hard silver-plating layer so as to provide improved durability and higher mating cycles. Also, the gold flash that covers this layer ensures an effective long-term protection against tarnishing and sulfidation.

Antoine Fares-Karam, global plating engineering manager at FCI commented: “The GCS is a proven reliable plating solution that can be used with both signal and power connectors for various electronic connections providing a compelling value proposition.”

“It is also an important enabler to address the needs of data centre equipment to reduce power loss through the connectors, as the lower resistance performs even better with silver-based plating,” added Michael Blanchfield, portfolio director for power solutions at FCI.