Electroless deposition employing laser-patterned masking layer
First Claim
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1. A method of electrolessly plating a metal on a substrate comprising:
- (a) coating the substrate with at least one layer of an ablatively-removable material to form a coated substrate;
(b) irradiating at least a portion of the coated substrate with a sufficient amount of laser radiation to thereby ablatively remove the irradiated portion of the layer coated on the substrate;
(c) terminating the step of irradiating at least a portion of the coated substrate;
(d) coating the resulting irradiated substrate with a catalyst capable of instigating electroless deposition of the metal to be plated when contacted by an electroless plating solution; and
(e) contacting the catalyst-coated substrate with an electroless plating solution to thereby plate the metal on the catalyst-coated irradiated portion of the substrate and simultaneously remove the unirradiated portion of the catalyst-coated layer.
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Abstract
A metal is electrolessly plated on a substrate which is first coated with at least one ablatively-removable layer that is selectively irradiated with laser radiation to obtain a pattern for the deposition of metal on the substrate. The electroless plating solution applied to the substrate after the irradiated substrate is coated with a catalyst also serves to remove the unirradiated portion of the ablatively-removable layer. The method is particularly suited for plating fine lines of metal, especially on non-planar surfaces.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of electrolessly plating a metal on a substrate comprising:
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(a) coating the substrate with at least one layer of an ablatively-removable material to form a coated substrate; (b) irradiating at least a portion of the coated substrate with a sufficient amount of laser radiation to thereby ablatively remove the irradiated portion of the layer coated on the substrate; (c) terminating the step of irradiating at least a portion of the coated substrate; (d) coating the resulting irradiated substrate with a catalyst capable of instigating electroless deposition of the metal to be plated when contacted by an electroless plating solution; and (e) contacting the catalyst-coated substrate with an electroless plating solution to thereby plate the metal on the catalyst-coated irradiated portion of the substrate and simultaneously remove the unirradiated portion of the catalyst-coated layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29)
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21. A method of electrolessly plating copper on a substrate comprising:
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(a) coating the substrate with a layer consisting essentially of a water-soluble polymer; (b) irradiating at least a portion of the water-soluble polymer layer with a sufficient amount of laser radiation from an excimer laser to thereby ablatively remove said irradiated portions of the water-soluble polymer layer; (c) terminating the step of irradiating at least a portion of the water-soluble polymer layer; (d) coating with a palladium catalyst the surface of the substrate thus ablatively exposed; and (e) contacting the substrate and the water-soluble polymer layer thereon with an electroless copper solution to thereby plate copper on the catalyst-coated portion of the substrate and simultaneously remove the unirradiated portion of the palladium catalyst-coated water-soluble polymer layer. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of electrolessly plating a metal on a substrate, said substrate including thereon a dual layer comprising an organic soluble material and a water-soluble polymer layer, said method comprising:
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(a) irradiating at least a portion of the water-soluble polymer layer and a corresponding portion of the organic soluble layer in registry therewith, with a sufficient amount of laser radiation to thereby ablatively remove the irradiated portion of the water-soluble polymer layer and the corresponding portion of the organic soluble layer; (b) terminating the step of irradiating at least a portion of the water-soluble polymer layer and a corresponding portion of the organic soluble layer in registry therewith; (c) coating the surface of the substrate, thus ablatively exposed, with a catalyst capable of instigating electroless deposition of the metal to be plated when the ablatively-exposed substrate surface is contacted by an electroless plating solution; and (d) contacting the catalyst-coated substrate with an electroless plating solution to thereby plate the metal on the ablatively-exposed substrate surface and simultaneously remove the unirradiated catalyst-coated dual layer. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification