EFFECT OF THE TYPE OF SUBSTRATES ON THE DUCTILITY AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF ELECTROLESS COPPER-DEPOSITS

The ductility of fine-grained (0.1 approximately 0.5 mum) electroless copper deposits was found to vary with the type of substrates that they were plated on; under identical plating conditions, the ductility of the electroless copper grown on activated plastic substrates was higher than that grown epitaxially on a large-grained copper foil. This ductility difference is shown to originate from a difference in the void structure developed at the grain boundaries of the deposits during film formation.