Methods for achieving high speed acid copper electroplating in the PCB industry Available to Purchase

Significant reductions in the cycle time for the desmear, “making holes conductive” and imaging stages of the printed circuit board manufacturing process have been achieved by the use of horizontal conveyorised techniques. If these savings in time are to be fully realised, it is also necessary to have a high‐speed acid copper electroplating process that, by implication, must be capable of operating at very high current densities. This paper outlines the fundamental electrochemical principles of acid copper electroplating and explains how these impact on high speed electroplating in terms of the electrolyte chemistry, the construction of the plating cell and the method in which the current is delivered (i.e. DC or pulse).