摘要 |
An electrical conductor (10) has a copper base substrate (12) coated with a tin base coating layer (14). To inhibit the diffusion of copper from the substrate (12) into the coating layer (14) and the consequential formation of a brittle tin/copper intermetallic, a barrier layer (16) is interposed between the substrate (12) and the coating layer (14). This barrier layer (16) contains from 20% to 40%, by weight, of nickel and is preferably predominantly comprised of copper. In one embodiment, an intermetallic layer (38) selected from the group (Cu-Ni) 3 Sn, (Cu-Ni) 6 Sn 5 , Cu 3 Sn, Cu 6 Sn 5 is disposed between the barrier layer (16) and the tin base coating layer (14). |