ENHANCED ADHESION OF PMMA TO COPPER WITH BLACK OXIDE FOR ELECTRODEPOSITION OF HIGH-ASPECT-RATIO NICKEL-IRON MICROSTRUCTURES

Copper is widely used as a plating base for soft magnetic alloy electr odeposition in sensors and actuators. PMMA, the X-ray resist used in t he LIGA process, typically has poor adhesion with copper. The use of b lack oxide of copper to enhance PMMA-copper adhesion was investigated. In this work, peel strength as a function of treatment time and the m ethod of bonding was evaluated using an ASTM standard T-peel test. Pee l strength increased with increasing treatment time. The feasibility o f producing microstructures with predictable 3-D geometry for use in r esonating sensors was investigated using the process developed. Nickel -iron structures of 100-1000 micrometers wide and 500 micrometers tall were successfully electrodeposited. Growth of other representative mi crostructures is being investigated.