Electroless copper plating in the presence of excess triethanol amine

EDTA, Rochelle salt, and their derivatives have been used so far as the ligand in electroless copper plating. Although these ligands are useful for high-quality copper plating, a serious drawback is the low deposition rate. In attempting to increase the rate, the authors searched for several ligands and found that excess TEA is effective for accelerating the rate. This paper reports on the effect of triethanol amine (TEA) on the deposition rate in electroless copper plating. The deposition rate initially increased with increasing concentration of TEA. The rate reached a maximum at a concentration of 0.18 M. After passing the maximum, the rate decreased with increasing concentration. The maximum rate was 20 times larger than the rate obtained when ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was used as the ligand