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How to catalyze electroless nickel plating on copper substrate

I am a masters student researching thermal management in semiconductor packaging. I used nickel plated copper heat spreader to dissipate heat out from processor. The nickel is plated using electroless nickel plating technique. I have found out that one type of heat spreader containing a thin layer (less the 1 micron) between copper and nickel-phosphorous layer. The elements inside that layer are copper and nickel. As I know, electroless nickel plating requires catalyst activation before nickel could deposited onto copper. May I ask, is this layer used as catalyst activation layer? What is the name of this technique and how it works? Still got any other techniques that able to catalyze electroless nickel plating without using this layer? Thanks.

Victor Lim Lim
student - Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
March 6, 2008

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It is fairly routine to plate electroless nickel onto copper, Victor, and the usual way is to 'spark' it, that is to very briefly connect it to electricity so that an extremely thin layer of nickel is electrodeposited as a starting point, That is probably how the parts that you are looking at were made.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 6, 2008