Metal finishing Q&As since 1989
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Backside of wafers are dielectric but still become Electroless Nickel plated
Q. My wafers are getting backside plating which are not supposed to, I am doing electroless Nickel plating. Backside of the wafer is dielectric. Any insight on this issue will be greatly helpful. What are the reasons behind plating the backside of the wafer?
Satish Yeldandi- Boise, Idaho, United States
December 16, 2011
EN will plate anything that is properly activated and plateable. You have to find a way to mask off the back side that is compatible with the plating process. Unfortunately, some masks are nearly impossible to get off COMPLETELY without numerous clean solvent dips.
Find someone in the industry that can point you in the right direction. I would start with tech services of the OEM if your EN vendor cannot help you. They want your business, so most, at least the good ones, will do a lot to help you.
- Navarre, Florida
First of two simultaneous responses -- December 21, 2011
Electroless indeed means the surface doesn't need to be conductive, only receptive or "active". It is not infrequent to see nickel deposits on plastic tank walls or glass beakers [beakers on
eBay or
Amazon]. You may need to mask those surfaces before processing,
G. Marrufo
- Monterrey, Mexico
Second of two simultaneous responses -- December 21, 2011
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