Effect of the Type of Substrates on the Ductility and Microstructure of Electroless Copper Deposits

Abstract

The ductility of fine‐grained electroless copper deposits was found to vary with the type of substrates that they were plated on; under identical plating conditions, the ductility of the electroless copper grown on activated plastic substrates was higher than that grown epitaxially on a large‐grained copper foil. This ductility difference is shown to originate from a difference in the void structure developed at the grain boundaries of the deposits during film formation.