Completely aqueous route for metallization of structural polymeric materials in micro-electro-mechanical systems

Direct Electroless Deposition of Nickel onto Silicon Nitride Ceramic: A Novel Approach for Copper Metallization of Micro‐/Nano‐fabricated Devices

“…C─C of the phenylene layer at 284.8 eV, and C─N/C─O at 286.2 eV. [9,13] Similar to the N 1s results (Figure 1b), we observe nearly identical Si 2p spectra before and after the treatment (Figure 1d). In addition to the silicon nitride peak at 102.1 eV, two other subcomponents at 100.3 (Si 0 ) and 103.6 eV (native oxide) are present.…”

“…Last year, we have integrated our simple method into the fabrication of microcavities etched inside the KMPR photoresist polymer film. [13] The current article is now envisaging a completely aqueous copper metallization microsystem using silicon nitride diffusion barrier. Indeed, the conventional copper metallization approach using silicon nitride as diffusion barrier rely on the costly physical deposition of two layers-a thin adhesive layer (typically titanium or tungsten) and a copper seed layer-onto silicon nitride surface prior to electrodeposition of copper to fill the micro/nano features.…”

“…The typical characteristic of the nitride moiety at 397.7 eV [22,23] remains unchanged after the diazonium treatment ( Figure 1b) and a new one positioned at 399.5 eV confirms the presence of the amine-terminated functionalities on the modified surface. [3,13,22] Unlike the plasma treatment resulting in the conversion of silicon nitride into silicon oxynitride (see Figure S1, Supporting Information), this diazonium treatment preserves the intrinsic properties of the nitride surface during amination. In comparison with the minor C 1s peak on the pristine surface arising from carbon contamination, the deconvolution of C 1s high resolution spectrum of the diazonium-treated sample shows the presence of phenylene groups on the surface (Figure 1c).…”

“…[2][3][4]10] In particular for chemical metallization of insulating thin films (ceramic, oxide, and plastic), and in general for many other applications in micro/nano electromechanical systems, research efforts have thus focused on the development of new silane-free surface modification approaches. [4,9,[11][12][13] There exist only a very few publications on the electroless plating onto silicon nitride without using the silanization process. [1,14] These routes require a special surface pretreatment (oxygen plasma cleaning followed by HF etching step to leave a H-terminated surface with Si-H, NH, and NH 2 moieties) prior to electroless plating.…”

3D-MID Technology for Surface Modification of Polymer-Based Composites: A Comprehensive Review

“…The goal of this process is to enhance the specific properties of plastics including reflectivity, abrasion resistance, and electrical conductivity. Therefore, plating on plastics has received considerable attention in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs), automotive parts and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications [ 260 , 261 , 262 , 263 ]. Over the last decades, the plastics was successfully metallized with gold, silver, nickel and copper [ 264 , 265 ].…”