A versatile approach to selective and inexpensive copper patterns using polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings

Versatile, highly selective, and inexpensive metal patterning techniques on various substrates are demanded for current research in microelectronic device fabrications. We present a new process for creating highly selective and cost-effective copper patterns that can be plated on virtually any substrate including plastics by combining polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) coatings, microcontact printing, and electroless deposition. Optical microscope, atomic force microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to show the resulting copper structures exclusively plated where the patterned catalyst was electrostatically bound to the PEM coated surfaces. The copper plating rate was measured using a quartz crystal microbalance. The unpatterned polyelectrolyte surfaces are still active and can be used with additional processing to create complicated three dimensional metal architectures or even bimetallic patterns.