Study of wetters in nickel electroforming of 3D microstructures

The effect of the presence of a wetter upon nickel electroforming of three- dimensional (3D) microstructure under various aspect ratios and applied cur rent densities was investigated. Owing to improved wetting capacity, the he ight-to-width aspect ratio of the nickel microstructure and the applied cur rent density were favorably enhanced with the presence of soluble dialkyl e sters of sodium sulfosuccinic acid in the electrolyte. A nickel microstruct ure with aspect ratio 30 (200 mu m deep with 7 mu m width) was obtained at 16 A dm(-2). The internal stress and hardness of the nickel deposit were sl ightly decreased by the presence of these wetters, (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e S.A. All rights reserved.