• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 1995

Electroless Ni and Cu platings were conducted on $B_4C$ and SiC. In the electroless Ni plating, the deposition rate on $B_4C$ was higher than on SiC. However, the electroless Cu deposition occured with high deposition rate regardless of the carbide substrates used in this study. Uniformity of the deposits was better in the electroless Cu deposition than in the electroless Ni deposition. In the topographies of the electroless depositions, Ni deposits have grown as colony, whereas Cu deposits have grown as fine individual grains.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.1091-1098
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• 1998

Thermal stability of the electroless deposited Cu thin film was investigated. Cu/TaN/Si multilayer was fabricated by electroless-depositing Cu thin layer on TaN diffusion barrier layer which was deposited by MOCVD on the Si substrate, and was annealed in $H_2$ ambient to investigate the microstructure of Cu film with a post heat-treatment. Cu thin film with good adhesion was successfully deposited on the surface of the TaN film by electroless deposition with a proper activation treatment and solution control. Microstructural property of the electroless-deposited Cu layer was improved by a post-annealing in the reduced atmosphere of $H_2$ gas up to $600^{\circ}C$. Thermal stability of Cu/TaN/Si system was maintained up to $600^{\circ}C$ annealing temperature, but the intermediate compounds of Cu-Si were formed above $650^{\circ}C$ because Cu element passed through the TaN layer. On the other hand, thermal stability of the Cu/TaN/Si system in Ar ambient was maintained below $550^{\circ}C$ annealing temperature due to the minimal impurity of $O_2$ in Ar gas.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.264-268
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• 2015

Cu films were plated in an eco-friendly electroless bath (No-Formaldehyde) on Ni/screen printed Ag pattern/PET substrate. For electroless Cu plating, we used sodium-phosphinate ($NaH_2PO_2{\cdot}H_2O$) as reducing agent instead of Formaldehyde. All processes were carried out in electroless solution of pH 7 to minimize damage to the PET substrate. According to the increase of sodium-phosphinate, the deposition rate, the granule size, and rms roughness of the electroless Cu film increased and the Ni content also increased. The electroless Cu films plated using 0.280 M and 0.575 M solutions of sodium-phosphinate were made with Cu of 94 at.% and 82 at.%, respectively, with Ni and a small amount P. All electroless Cu plated films had typical FCC crystal structures, although the amount of co-deposited Ni changed according to the variation of the sodium-phosphinate contents. From these results, we concluded that a formation of higher purity Cu film without surface damage to the PET is possible by use of sodium-phosphinate at pH 7.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.661-665
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• 2013

We investigated the characteristics of electroless plated Cu films on screen printed Ag/Anodized Al substrate. Cu plating was attempted using neutral electroless plating processes to minimize damage of the anodized Al substrate; this method used sodium hypophosphite instead of formaldehyde as a reducing agent. The basic electroless solution consisted of $CuSO_4{\cdot}5H_2O$ as the main metal source, $NaH_2PO_2{\cdot}H_2O$ as the reducing agent, $C_6H_5Na_3O_7{\cdot}2H_2O$ and $NH_4Cl$ as the complex agents, and $NiSO_4{\cdot}6H_2O$ as the catalyser for the oxidation of the reducing agent, dissolved in deionized water. The pH of the Cu plating solutions was adjusted using $NH_4OH$. According to the variation of pH in the range of 6.5~8, the electroless plated Cu films were coated on screen printed Ag pattern/anodized Al/Al at $70^{\circ}C$. We investigated the surface morphology change of the Cu films using FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy). The chemical composition of the Cu film was determined using XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy). The crystal structures of the Cu films were investigated using XRD (X-ray Diffraction). Using electroless plating at pH 7, the structures of the plated Cu-rich films were typical fcc-Cu; however, a slight Ni component was co-deposited. Finally, we found that the formation of Cu film plated selectively on PCB without any lithography is possible using a neutral electroless plating process.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.17-21
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• 2008

The electroless plating of copper and tin were investigated for the fabrication of Sn-Cu bump. Copper and tin were electroless plated in series on $20{\mu}m$ diameter copper via to form approximately $10{\mu}m$ height bump. In electroless copper plating, acid cleaning and stabilizer addition promoted the selectivity of bath on the copper via. In electroless tin plating, the coating thickness of tin was less uniform relative to that of electroless copper, however the size of Sn-Cu bump were uniform after reflow process.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2001.07a
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• pp.100-103
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• 2001

In this study, the adhesion and thermal property of the electroless-deposited Cu thin film were investigated. The multilayered structure of Cu/TaN/Si was fabricated by electroless-depositing the Cu thin layer on the TaN diffusion barrier which was deposited by MOCVD on the Si substrate. The thermal stability was investigated by measuring the resistivity as post-annealing temperature far the multilayered Cu/TaN/Si specimen which was annealed at Ar gas. The adhesion property of Cu 171ms was evaluated by the scratch test. The adhesion of the electroless-deposited Cu film was compared with other deposition methods of thermal evaporation and sputtering. The scratch test showed that the adhesion of electroless plated Cu film on TaN was better than those of sputtered Cu film and evaporated Cu film.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1994.11a
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• pp.43-44
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• 1994

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 1999

In this study, the thermal property and adhesion of the electroless-deposited Cu thin film were investigated. The multilayered structure of Cu /TaN /Si was fabricated by electroless-depositing the Cu thin layer on the TaN diffusion barrier which was deposited by MOCVD on the Si substrate. The thermal stability was investigated by measuring the resistivity as post-annealing temperature for the multilayered Cu /TaN /Si specimen which was annealed at atmospheres of $H_2$and Ar gases, respectively. The adhesion strength of Cu films was evaluated by the scratch test. The adhesion of the electroless-deposited Cu film was compared with other deposition methods of thermal evaporation and sputtering. The scratch test showed that the adhesion of electroless plated Cu film on TaN was better than that of sputtered Cu film and evaporated Cu film.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2017

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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.101-105
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• 2003

In this study, we have investigated the availability of the electroless Ni-B plating for a diffusion barrier of the bus electrode. The Ni-B layer of 1$\beta$: thick was electroless deposited on the electroplated Cu bus electrode for AC plasma display. The layer was to encapsulate Cu bus electrode to prevent from its oxidation and to serve as a diffusion barrier against Cu contamination of the transparent dielectric layer in AC plasma display. The microstructure of the as-plated barrier layer was made of an amorphous phase and the structure was converted to crystalline at about 30$0^{\circ}C$. The concentration of boron was about 5∼6 wt.% in the electroless Ni-B deposit regardless of DMAB concentration. The electroless Ni-B deposit was coated on the surface of the electroplated Cu bus electrode uniformly. And the electroless Ni-B plating was found to be an appropriate process to form the diffusion barrier.