Optimized Surface Treatment of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) for Copper Electroless Plating

Abstract

Electrolessly plated Cu film on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate was studied for the application of the data bus line in large scale liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display panel (PDP). The optimized surface treatment of ITO substrate was extensively investigated. The two-step pretreatment of Sn sensitization and Pd activation resulted in the best results. Using the optimized treatment, the electrolessly plated Cu film with (100) and (200) preferred orientation showed 7 nm root mean square (RMS) roughness, as-deposited 2.2 µΩ·cm resistivity, good adhesion and excellent selectivity.