Development of Copper Electro-Plating Technology on a Screen-Printed Conductive Pattern with Copper Paste

An electro-plating technology on a cured isotropic conductive pattern with a hybrid Cu paste composed of resin matrix, copper, and solder powders has been developed. In a conventional technology, Ag paste was used to perform a conductive pattern on a PCB or silicon substrate. From previous research, the electrical conductive mechanism and principle of the hybrid Cu paste were concisely investigated. The isotropic conductive pattern on the PCB substrate was performed using screen-printing technology. The optimum electro-plating condition was experimentally determined by processing parameters such as the metal content of the hybrid Cu paste, applied current density, and time for the electroplating in the plating bath. The surfaces and cross-sections were observed using optical and SEM photographs. In conclusion, the optimized processing conditions for Cu electro-plating technology on the conductive pattern were a current density of 40mA㎠ and a plating time of 20min on the hybrid Cu paste with a metal content of 44 vol.%. More details of the mechanical properties and processing conditions will be investigated in further research.