Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Micro bubbles on copper plating

I am a process engineer and I would like to know why micro bubbles occur during a copper plating bath, and how to prevent this from happening? Thank you.

Ronnie Gardner
Electronics - Joliet, Illinois, USA
2006

Plating solutions are not 100 percent efficient, Ronnie. Some portion of the applied electricity liberates hydrogen gas rather than pulling metal out of solution.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2006

Besides hydrogen gas generate at cathode, micro bubbles also can arise from air leakage in circulation pump which will break down air into micro air bubbles and mix up with plating solution inside filter column which then transfer back into plating bath.

Micro air bubbles can cause pitting on plating surface due to micro bubbles stick onto metal surface and hinder plating at that particular area.

David Shiu
- Singapore
2006

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