Ablation, surface activation, and electroless metallization of insulating materials by pulsed excimer laser irradiation

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:6073472

Lowndes, D H; Godbole, M J ^[1]; Jellison, Jr, G E ^[2]; Pedraza, A J ^[3]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States) Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
2. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
3. Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

Pulsed-laser irradiation of wide bandgap ceramic substrates, using photons with sub-bandgap energies, activates the ceramic surface for subsequent electroless copper deposition. The copper deposit is confined within the irradiated region when the substrate is subsequently immersed in an electroless copper bath. However, a high laser fluence (typically several j/cm[sup 2]) and repeated laser shots are needed to obtain uniform copper coverage by this direct-irradiation process. In contrast, by first applying an evaporated SiO[sub x] thin film (with x [approximately]1), laser ablation at quite low energy density ([approximately]0.5 J/cm[sup 2]) results in re-deposition on the ceramic substrate of material that is catalytic for subsequent electroless copper deposition. Experiments indicate that the re-deposited material is on silicon, on which copper nucleates. Using an SiO[sub x] film on a laser-transparent substrate, quite fine ([approximately]12 [mu]m) copper lines can be formed at the boundary of the region that is laser-etched in SiO[sub x]. Using SiO[sub x] with an absorbing (polycrystalline) ceramic substrate, more-or-less uniform activation and subsequent copper deposition are obtained. In the later case, interactions with the ceramic substrate also may be important for uniform deposition.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; NSF; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6073472
• Report Number(s): CONF-9304144-5; ON: DE93015808; CNN: DMR-9116528
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360201 -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Preparation & Fabrication
360204 -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Physical Properties
665300* -- Interactions Between Beams & Condensed Matter-- (1992-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ABLATION
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
CERAMICS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COPPER
DEPOSITION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
EXCIMER LASERS
GAS LASERS
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
METALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
RADIATIONS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
SUBSTRATES
THERMAL INSULATION
TRANSITION ELEMENTS