On the effects of ultrasonic vibrations on localized electrochemical deposition

This paper studies the effects of ultrasonic vibrations on the localized electrochemical deposition (LECD) process. Nickel micro-columns were locally electrodeposited onto a copper substrate from a nickel sulphamate solution using a non-soluble platinum counter electrode, both with and without ultrasonic vibrations. Three output parameters were investigated in the experiments: rate of deposition, concentricity and porosity of the micro-columns. Results showed that generally, ultrasonic vibrations increased the rate of deposition and improved the concentricity of the fabricated micro-columns. On the other hand, it gives rise to structures with higher porosity as compared to those deposited in the absence of ultrasound. The application of ultrasonic vibrations in the LECD process is a novel effort to utilize a well-studied phenomenon to enhance the capability of a new microfabrication process.