Claims
- 1. A process for the metallization of a non-conductor substrate comprising the steps:
- (1) etching said substrate,
- (2) contacting said substrate with a colloidal dispersion comprising a non-noble catalytic metal wherein said catalytic metal may be part of an elemental state, an alloy, or a compound and mixtures thereof and wherein said metal is catalytic to electroless plating initiation in one of its oxidation states and further wherein said colloidal composition contains a colloid stabilizer which renders said catalytic composition stable towards separation but weakly active towards electroless plating initiation,
- (3) contacting the treated substrate with a composition comprising a reactivity modifier thereby further activating the treated substrate for greater catalytic activity in the initiation of the electroless plating process, and further wherein said reactivity modifier is also a colloid stabilizer but is not the same as said colloid stabilizer, and thereafter
- (4) contacting the substrate with a compatible electroless plating bath to deposit the desired metal.
- 2. The process according to claim 1 wherein said reactivity modifier is a surfactant.
- 3. The process according to claim 1 wherein said electroless plating bath is copper.
- 4. The process according to claim 1 wherein said colloid comprises copper in a reduced oxidation state.
- 5. The process according to claim 1 wherein said activated colloidal dispersion comprises water.
- 6. The process according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is a printed circuitry type substrate.
- 7. The process according to claim 1 wherein said colloidal dispersion comprises a colloidal product of copper and tin.
- 8. The process according to claim 1 wherein said activated colloidal dispersion comprises copper and wherein said copper is in an elemental state.
- 9. The process according to claim 1 further containing the step of water rinsing and wherein said rinsing follows the etching of said substrate.
- 10. The process according to claim 1 wherein said colloidal dispersion is derived through the nucleation reaction starting with compound(s) which are soluble in a solvent.
- 11. The process according to claim 1 wherein said colloidal dispersion is derived from the nucleation reaction which further wherein contains starting compound(s) insoluble in a solvent.
- 12. The process according to claim 1 wherein said electroless plating is part of a printed circuitry through-hole metallization.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 105,865 filed Dec. 21, 1979 U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,804, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application Ser. No. 820,904 filed Aug. 1, 1977 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,699 which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 625,326 filed on Oct. 23, 1975, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,354.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
105865 |
Dec 1979 |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
625326 |
Oct 1975 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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820904 |
Aug 1977 |
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