This paper deals with the effects of ultrasonic irradiation on electroless copper coating i.e. metallic deposition on non-conductive substrates and on electroplating on metallic substrates. Ultrasonic irradiation was both applied during activation (surface preparation for the electroless coating) and during plating steps in both cases. Several parameters were monitored, such as plating rates, practical adhesion, hardness, internal stress versus varying acoustic powers and frequencies. Optimum conditions for irradiation time, frequency and power were determined for each step. It appears clearly that ultrasound use affects deposit properties. Then, changes in the coating mechanisms can be discussed, and several parameters will be explored in this paper, to explain enhancement of deposit properties: increase in catalyst specific area, stirring dependence, surface energy evolution, dihydrogen desorption, structure of coating.
Acoustic field distribution was determined in HIFU sonoreactors as well as localization of cavitation activity by crossing different techniques: modeling, hydrophone measurements, laser tomography and SCL measurements. Particular care was taken with quantification of this last technique by pixels or photon counting. Cavitation bubbles generated by HIFU are mainly located on the outer layer of the propagation cone in the post-focal zone. Greatest acoustic activity is not located at the geometrical focal, but corresponds to a high concentration of bubbles zone. On the contrary, the main sonochemical activity shifts slightly toward the transducer, whereas quenching of inertial cavitation is observed directly at the focal. Finally, SCL thresholds have been determined.
This letter reports on the use of frequency sweeps to probe acoustic cavitation activity generated by high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Unprecedented enhancement and quenching of HIFU cavitation activity were observed when short frequency sweep gaps were applied in negative and positive directions, respectively. It was revealed that irrespective of the frequency gap, it is the direction and frequency sweep rate that govern the cavitation activity. These effects are related to the response of bubbles generated by the starting frequency to the direction of the frequency sweep, and the influence of the sweep rate on growth and coalescence of bubbles, which in turn affects the active bubble population. These findings are relevant for the use of HIFU in chemical and therapeutic applications, where greater control of cavitation bubble population is critical.
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