30 years of electroless plating for semiconductor and polymer micro-systems

Abstract

Electroless deposition (ELD) is a well-known method for preparing thin films of metals and their alloys. It is a highly selective method allowing additive patterning of isolated and embedded structures on insulating substrates, e.g. glass, plastic or ceramic. It is a relatively low temperature (less than the boiling point of the electrolyte) and low cost process compared to other physical and chemical vapor deposition methods. ELD features uniform and normally conformal deposition (additives may affect its conformality) with low defect density and some unique material properties. In the last 30 years electroless plating of metals (e.g. copper, gold, nickel, cobalt, palladium, iron, silver, etc.) and their alloys, was demonstrated for micro system applications: microelectronics, micro electro mechanics, micro electro optics and microfluidics, micro fuel cells, micro batteries etc. Electroless plating was also demonstrated on nano structures, both artificial and natural. In this paper we present a short tribute to the recent advances in electroless plating in the last 30 years. Those advances and innovations are due to the work of many scientists and engineers on a time span started in the 19 th century. The progress in electroless plating followed the need and the trend for better metallization technologies for complex structures with critical dimensions that had been shrinking continuously in the last few decades.

Metallization of 3D Printed Polymers and Their Application as a Fully Functional Water‐Splitting System

“…Such an orderly arrangement ensures favorable electrical conductivity; resistivity of amorphous NiP was measured to be as low as 0.45 µΩ m (at 298 K) with a typical behavior of an amorphous alloy since resistivity decreases much slower with decreasing temperature (Figure c), compared to that of a crystalline metal . Our resistivity compares well with other reported Ni‐based platings . It is also interesting to evaluate the conductivity of the resultant NiP@Polymer structure (normalized with the polymeric volume).…”

Flux-closure domains in high aspect ratio electroless-deposited CoNiB nanotubes

“…Electroless deposition is a very flexible and powerful tool for the conformal coating of metal thin films on arbitrary substrates (even electrically non-conductive) [33,34]. The deposition process is based on the autocatalytic reaction of the metal ions inside the plating solution at a specially functionalized surface (or just metallic substrate).…”

Evidence of substrate roughness surface induced magnetic anisotropy in Ni80Fe20 flexible thin films

“…Owing to scientific developments and discoveries of new materials, the significance of films has shifted from art to technology. In present times, most of engineering disciplines incorporate the use of thin films in various applications including thin film photovoltaics for efficient solar power conversion [2][3][4][5][6][7], thin film lithium batteries for consumer portable electronics [8,9], semiconductor thin films for micro-and nano-electronics [10], thin film optical coatings [11], thin films for high resolution displays [12] and thin films for tribological and protective coatings applications [13], to name a few.…”