Photocatalysis electroless plating of copper pattern on Al2O3 ceramic substrate combined with template shape control method

ABSTRACTA convenient and efficient approach for copper pattern preparation on Al2O3 ceramic substrate has been developed. The anatase nano-TiO2 film was firstly deposited on the surface of Al2O3 ceramic substrate to provide electron-hole pairs in subsequent photocatalysis electroless copper plating (PECP), and then PECP combined with template shape control method was initiated by ultraviolet light to fabricate the desirable conductive pattern. A continuous copper pattern layer could be obtained by controlling the electroless plating process during PECP. A low resistivity of about 3.49 × 10−8 Ω·m of the copper layer was achieved, which was only about 2 times higher than that of pure copper. Moreover, such a copper layer exhibited satisfactory smoothness with roughness of Ra 472 nm and reliable adhesion with bonding strength of higher than 37 MPa to substrate. This approach proposes a potential way to realize selective surface metallization on ceramic substrates without high temperature and any sophisticate...