A thin Cu seed layer for electroplating has been employed for decades in the miniaturization and integration of printed circuit board (PCB), however many problems are still caused by the thin Cu seed layer, e.g., open circuit faults in PCB, dimple defects, low conductivity, and etc. Here, we studied the effect of heat treatment of the thin Cu seed layer on the deposition rate of electroplated Cu. We investigated the heat-treatment effect on the crystallite size, morphology, electrical properties, and electrodeposition thickness by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), four point probe (FPP), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements, respectively. The results showed that post heat treatment of the thin Cu seed layer could improve surface roughness as well as electrical conductivity. Moreover, the deposition rate of electroplated Cu was improved about 148% by heat treatment of the Cu seed layer, indicating that the enhanced electrical conductivity and surface roughness accelerated the formation of Cu nuclei during electroplating. We also confirmed that the electrodeposition rate in the via filling process was also accelerated by heat-treating the Cu seed layer.

Recently, the demand for the miniaturization of printed circuit boards has been increasing, as electronic devices have been sharply downsized. Conventional multi-layered PCBs are limited in terms their use with higher packaging densities. Therefore, a build-up process has been adopted as a new multi-layered PCB manufacturing process. In this process, via-holes are used to connect each conductive layer. After the connection of the interlayers created by electro copper plating, the via-holes are filled with a conductive paste. In this study, a desmear treatment, electroless plating and electroplating were carried out to investigate the optimum processing conditions for Cu via filling on a PCB. The desmear treatment involved swelling, etching, reduction, and an acid dip. A seed layer was formed on the via surface by electroless Cu plating. For Cu via filling, the electroplating of Cu from an acid sulfate bath containing typical additives such as PEG(polyethylene glycol), chloride ions, bis-(3-sodiumsulfopropyl disulfide) (SPS), and Janus Green B(JGB) was carried out. The desmear treatment clearly removes laser drilling residue and improves the surface roughness, which is necessary to ensure good adhesion of the Cu. A homogeneous and thick Cu seed layer was deposited on the samples after the desmear treatment. The 2,2'-Dipyridyl additive significantly improves the seed layer quality. SPS, PEG, and JGB additives are necessary to ensure defect-free bottom-up super filling.