Method and apparatus for forming a metallic feature on a substrate
a technology of metallic features and substrates, applied in the direction of printed circuit aspects, liquid/solution decomposition chemical coatings, coatings, etc., can solve the problems of cumbersome and expensive techniques, limited pcb's, and difficult control of three-dimensional features (i.e. those which are raised above the surface of the substrate) using such conventional methods
Inactive Publication Date: 2006-06-22
AGENCY FOR SCI TECH & RES
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- Application Information
AI Technical Summary
Benefits of technology
Enables the formation of metallic features with greater depth and density, allowing for more precise control over dimensions and the ability to create non-planar circuitry, while reducing processing time and avoiding lateral metal spreading.
Problems solved by technology
However, this technique is cumbersome and expensive, and the size the of metallic features that can be produced thereby on, for example, PCB's is limited to around 30 .mu.m and above.
Moreover, the controlled formation of three-dimensional features (i.e. those which are raised above the surface of the substrate) is difficult using such conventional methods.
However, one drawback of this process is that the depth of the metallic features is limited by the amount of metal that can be deposited on a region of a substrate containing catalytic particles before lateral spreading of the metal takes place.
This clearly places an upper limit both on the density of surface features that can be created using this technique and on the minimum distance between any two features.
A further drawback of this technique is that the oxidation and silanization steps are lengthy.
Furthermore, since these surface treatments form a very thin (nanometer-sized) active layer on the surface, any moulding or deformation of the substrate during the stamping process is not practical.
This precludes using the existing method for moulding non-planar circuitry during the stamping process.
The stamping process using the previously described technique is also slow.
Method used
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[0084] Turning firstly to FIG. 1, a stamp 1 is shown. The stamp 1 may be formed from silicon, or may be formed from any other suitable material such as glass, a metal or a polymer. A stamping surface 2 of the stamp 1 is formed to have raised regions 3 thereon, there being sunken channels 4 between the raised regions 3. The pattern of raised regions 3 corresponds to a pattern of metallic features that are to be formed on a substrate.
[0085] In a first step of a method embodying the present invention, the stamping surface 2 of the stamp 1 is coated with a layer of catalytic particles 5, as shown in FIG. 2. The stamp 1 now embodies the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the catalytic particles 5 comprise nanometer-sized palladium particles. Advantageously, the catalytic particles 5 are coated with molecules of polyvinylpyrrolidone, poly-2-vinylpyridine or polyvinyl alcohol, which coating confers the beneficial effect of stabilising the colloidal suspension of the catalytic p...
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Abstract
A method of forming a metallic feature on a substrate, comprising the steps of: providing a stamp having a raised region; depositing catalytic particles on a selected area of the stamp, including the raised region thereof; providing a substrate; applying the stamp to the substrate, such that the raised region of the stamp causes a corresponding indented region in the substrate and at least some of the catalytic particles are transferred to a selected area of the substrate; and plating the selected area of the substrate.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 081,768, filed on Feb. 22, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference.THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a metallic feature on a substrate, and in particular to a method and apparatus for forming fine metallic features in close proximity to one another on a substrate. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The formation of fine metallic features in close proximity to one another is of great commercial interest in several industries, most notably the printed circuit board (PCB), flexible circuit and packaging industries. The formation of smaller, more densely arranged components on the surface of a substrate allows the manufacture of PCB's that are cheap and operate quickly (due to the proximity of the components), and for flip chip applications the packaging industry requires the accurate patterning of solder bumps onto...
Claims
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IPC IPC(8): B05D1/36B05D3/00B05D3/10B05D5/00C23C18/16C25D5/02C25D5/56H05K3/10H05K3/18
CPCC25D5/02C25D5/56H01L2251/105H05K3/107H05K3/182H05K2201/09118H05K2203/0108H05K2203/0709C23C18/2033C23C18/1608C23C18/30H10K71/821
InventorCHEN, WILLIAM T.MORAN, PETER M.
OwnerAGENCY FOR SCI TECH & RES