Manipulating the adhesion of electroless plated Cu film on liquid polymer crystal substrate for advanced microelectronic manufacturing

The evolution from subtractive to modified semi-additive (mSAP) and semi-additive (SAP) processes has heightened the importance of electroless plated (ELP) copper (Cu) peel strength in the printed circuit board industry. This study introduces a wet process for depositing Cu on liquid crystal polymer (LCP) using advanced electroless plating, incorporating a polyethylenimine (PEI) surfactant, a homemade nano-sized palladium (Pd) activator, and a micro-sculpturing treatment. By adjusting PEI immersion time and substrate roughness in the sub-micrometer domain, the peel strength of the ELP Cu film ranges from under 10 gf/cm to over 600 gf/cm. This wide range meets both low peel strength needs of mSAP peelable Cu foil and the high strength required in SAP. Characterization techniques, including atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle (WCA) measurements, and fracture analysis, reveal that ELP Cu peel strength is driven by a synergistic effect between molecular interaction and physical anchoring.