P. Kritzer et al., Corrosive inorganic contamination on wafer surfaces after nickel-iron electroplating - Formation Mechanisms and Prevention, MATER CORRO, 52(11), 2001, pp. 838-843
Electroplating of Nickel-Iron alloys is widely used in the production of ma
gnetic heads for storage systems. Usually, the plating process is performed
in acidic, salt-containing solutions. After the plating step, a complete r
emoval of the plating salts is necessary to receive a clean surface. In dis
advantageous cases, a precipitation of sticky particles is observed that ca
nnot be removed from the plated surface without damaging the surface. Some
of these substances (esp. nickel sulfates) might lead to severe local corro
sion and thus might act as "time-bomb" in the later product. Non-corrosive
precipitation, (i.e. nickel hydroxides) strongly hinder or even prevent the
following production steps.
In the present paper, the mechanisms of the origin of the different kinds o
f precipitation arc described and the principle actions for their preventio
n are given. An outlook is given for other possible technical applications.