Maskless Laser Patterning for Gold Plating of Microelectronic Materials

The authors have developed a method for producing small area patterns using any one of several organic coatings, including photoresist in conjunction with a Q-switched Nd-YAG laser. The laser removes the coating locally leaving a clean metal surface which can then be plated by conventional means. The authors have laser patterned coated substrates of copper, nickel, nickel-plated Be-Cu, and gold plated the patterned 1/2-1 mm diam regions. These areas are typical of those required on microelectronic connector parts and serve to demonstrate the potential of this simple technique for conserving precious metals. Laser and coating parameters are described together with details of the patterning method. © 1983, The Electrochemical Society, Inc. All rights reserved.