Microfabrication of Micro-Conductive Patterns on Insulating Substrate by Electroless Nickel Plating

Micro-conductive patterns were microfabricated on an insulating substrate (SiO2) surface by a selective electroless nickel plating process in order to investigate the formation of seed layers. To fabricate micro-conductive patterns, a thin layer of metal (Cu,Cr) was deposited in the desired micropattern using laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT), and above this layer, a second layer was plated by selective electroless plating. The LIFT process, which was carried out in multi-scan mode, was used to fabricate micro-conductive patterns via electroless nickel plating. This method helps to improve the deposition process for forming seed patterns on the insulating substrate surface and the electrical conductivity of the resulting patterns. This study analyzes the effect of seed pattern formation by LIFT and key parameters in electroless nickel plating during micro-conductive pattern fabrication. The effects of the process variables on the cross-sectional shape and surface quality of the deposited patterns are examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and an optical microscope.