Novel Environmentally Benign and Low-Cost Pd-free Electroless Plating Method Using Ag Nanosol as an Activator

The electroless plating process largely consists of substrate cleaning, seed formation (activator formation), and electroless plating. The most widely used activator in the seed formation step is Pd, and Sn ions are used to facilitate the formation of this Pd seed layer. This is problematic because the Sn ions interfere with the reduction of Cu ions during electroless plating; thus, the Sn ions must be removed by a hydrochloric acid cleaning process. This method is also expensive due to the use of Pd. In this study, Cu electroless plating was performed by forming a seed layer using a silver nanosol instead of Pd and Sn. The effects of the Ag nanosol concentration in the pretreatment solution and the pretreatment time on the thickness and surface morphology of the Cu layer were investigated. The degrees of adhesion to the substrate were similar for the electroless-plated Cu layers formed by conventional Pd activation and those formed by the Ag nanosol.