Site-selective electroless plating of copper on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) surface modified with a self-assembled monolayer

A technique to obtain the site-selective electroless deposition of copper on poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrates was studied in our research. The substrates were first treated with ultraviolet light. Then, on the surfaces of the substrates, self-assembled monolayers were grafted. The self-assembled monolayers were further modified by vacuum ultraviolet irradiation through a photomask, thus forming regions with different functional groups. Copper finally deposited on the specifical regions. As confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the copper micropatterning possessed excellent selectivity and high fidelity. The feature size of copper micropatterning was approximately 2 μm and the diameter of copper particles was in the range of 50–100 nm.

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► Site-selective copper micropatterning is obtained by electroless plating.
► The deposition is carried out on flexible substrates modified with SAMs.
► The whole process is successfully conducted at a relatively low temperature.
► The micropatterning possesses both good selectivity and high fidelity.