ELECTROLESS PLATING OF NICKEL FOR MICRO-STRUCTURE FABRICATION

Electroless plating nickel has superior mechanical property to electroplated nickel. Furthermore nickel can be coated on nonconducting substrate. In this research, electroless plating of nickel were conducted in different bath condition to find optimum conditions of electroless nickel plating for MEMS applications. The selectivity of activation method on several substrates was investigated. The effects of nickel concentration, reducing agent concentration and inhibitor on deposition rate were investigated. The effect of pH on deposition rate and content of phosphorous in deposited nickel was also investigated.