Hughes Electronics Corporation

Robert E Doty

Richard J Joyce

Randall L Kubena

Ronghua R Wei

The dominant physical parameter that affects the internal stress of electroplated metals on substrates have been identified and their effects have been systematically studied. Thin electroplated metals have very high internal stresses, even though the substrate displacements are small. Increasing the electroplated metal's thickness greatly reduces the magnitude of the stress, which can be either tensile or compressive depending on the plating conditions, but it may not necessarily reduce the displacement of the substrate. Based on the research done in connection to this application, the relationship between the plating temperatures and the current density needed to obtain near-zero-stress state for electroplated nickel on silicon substrate can be deduced.

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El Segundo, CA, United States of America

Robert E Doty