Nanoscale characterization of thin immersion silver coatings on copper substrates

TL;DR

This study uses nanoscale analysis techniques to characterize the composition, thickness, and aging effects of immersion silver coatings on copper substrates, comparing homemade and industrial solutions.

Contribution

It provides detailed nanoscale insights into silver layer composition, contamination, and aging effects, which were not previously characterized at this resolution.

Findings

Silver layers are 50-150 nm thick depending on immersion time.

Sulfur contamination from thiosulfate bath is detectable.

Aging in air alters the layer composition, increasing copper and corrosion products.

Abstract

Microelectronic-grade copper foils were immersion silver plated in a home-made non-cyanide alkaline silver nitrate - thiosulfate solution and in two commercially available industrial baths via contact reductive precipitation. The concentration depth profiles of the freshly deposited silver layers were afterwards analyzed at nanoscale resolution by means of Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry (SNMS) and Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy (GDOES). The thickness of deposited silver layers obtained with 30-60 s immersion time were in the range of 50-150 nm, depending on the parameters of the immersion procedure. Slight contamination of sulfur from the thiosulfate bath was detectable. Traces of Cr and Na could be observed as well around the interface between the copper substrate and silver deposit. Results also indicate that storage for longer time in air especially at higher than ambient temperatures induces a kind of ageing effect in the deposited layer, changing its composition. In case of samples prepared from home-made solution increasing amounts of copper together with its corrosion products became detectable.