Metallic material for electronic components and method for producing same, and connector terminals, connectors and electronic components using same

Abstract

The present invention provides metallic materials for electronic components, having low degree of whisker formation, low adhesive wear property and high durability, and connector terminals, connectors and electronic components using such metallic materials. The metallic material for electronic components includes: a base material; a lower layer formed on the base material, the lower layer being constituted with one or two or more selected from a constituent element group A, namely, the group consisting of Ni, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co and Cu; an intermediate layer formed on the lower layer, the intermediate layer being constituted with one or two or more selected from a constituent element group B, namely, the group consisting of Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Os and Ir; and an upper layer formed on the intermediate layer, the upper layer being constituted with an alloy composed of one or two or more selected from the constituent element group B, namely, the group consisting of Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Os and Ir and one or two selected from a constituent element group C, namely, the group consisting of Sn and In; wherein the thickness of the lower layer is 0.05 μm or more and less than 5.00 μm; the thickness of the intermediate layer is 0.01 μm or more and less than 0.50 μm; and the thickness of the upper layer is 0.02 μm or more and less than 0.80 μm.