VUV light-induced decomposition of palladium acetate films for electroless copper plating

VUV light-induced decomposition of palladium acetate films has been performed using a novel excimer lamp source of 126 nm radiation. Such exposure results in the formation of palladium, which acts as an activator for copper plating by means of an electroless bath. Selective copper patterns can thus be formed. The change in the optical transmission of the films formed on quartz after irradiation was observed using a UV spectrophotometer. The morphology of the metal layers produced was investigated with an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This low cost, large area, VUV source can provide a most useful route for low temperature photon-initiated processing.