A false report on appearance inspection of a semiconductor device is prevented by suppressing variation in surface state of an electrodeposited gold electrode. In formation of an electrodeposited gold electrode, an electrodeposited gold electrode comprised of a plurality of electrodeposited gold layers in the stack is formed by alternately repeating a step of performing energization between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode provided in a treatment cup of a plating apparatus to cause crystal growth of an electrodeposited gold layer (energization ON), and a step of performing no energization between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode (energization OFF). Consequently, even if aging variation occurs in composition of the plating solution, variation in surface state of the electrodeposited gold electrode is suppressed, and a surface state with a surface roughness of, for example, about 0.025 rad can be maintained.

There are provided a press-fit terminal which has an excellent whisker resistance and a low inserting force, is unlikely to cause shaving of plating when the press-fit terminal is inserted into a substrate, and has a high heat resistance, and an electronic component using the same. A press-fit terminal comprises: a female terminal connection part provided at one side of an attached part to be attached to a housing; and a substrate connection part provided at the other side and attached to a substrate by press-fitting the substrate connection part into a through-hole formed in the substrate. At least the substrate connection part has the surface structure described below, and the press-fit terminal has an excellent whisker resistance. The surface structure comprises: an A layer formed as an outermost surface layer and formed of Sn, In, or an alloy thereof; a B layer formed below the A layer and constituted of one or two or more selected from the group consisting of Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Os, and Ir; and a C layer formed below the B layer and constituted of one or two or more selected from the group consisting of Ni, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Cu. The A layer has a thickness of 0.002 to 0.2 μm. The B layer has a thickness of 0.001 to 0.3 μm. The C layer has a thickness of 0.05 μm or larger.

In one embodiment, a method for manufacturing an aperture plate includes depositing a releasable seed layer above a substrate, applying a first patterned photolithography mask above the releasable seed layer, the first patterned photolithography mask having a negative pattern to a desired aperture pattern, electroplating a first material above the exposed portions of the releasable seed layer and defined by the first mask, applying a second photolithography mask above the first material, the second photolithography mask having a negative pattern to a first cavity, electroplating a second material above the exposed portions of the first material and defined by the second mask, removing both masks, and etching the releasable seed layer to release the first material and the second material. The first and second material form an aperture plate for use in aerosolizing a liquid. Other aperture plates and methods of producing aperture plates are described according to other embodiments.

The present invention is to provide a chrome-plated part having a corrosion resistance in normal and specific circumstances and not requiring additional treatments after chrome plating, and to provide a manufacturing method of such a chrome-plated part. The chrome-plated part 1 includes: a substrate 2; a bright nickel plating layer 5b formed over the substrate 2; a noble potential nickel plating layer 5a formed on the bright nickel plating layer 5b. An electric potential difference between the bright nickel plating layer 5b and the noble potential nickel plating layer 5a is within a range from 40 mV to 150 mV. The chrome-plated part 1 further includes: a trivalent chrome plating layer 6 formed on the noble potential nickel plating layer 5a and having at least any one of a microporous structure and a microcrack structure.

A copper alloy sheet or strip for a lead frame of LED includes specific amounts of Fe, P, Zn, and Sn with the remainder being Cu and unavoidable impurities. A surface roughness thereof is less than 0.06 μm in terms of arithmetic average roughness Ra and is less than 0.5 μm in terms of ten-point average roughness Rz.sub.JIS. The number of groove-shaped recesses present on the surface, each having a length of 5 μm or more and a depth of 0.25 μm or more, is 2 or less in a range of a square of 200 μm×200 μm with a pair of its sides running in transverse to a rolling direction. A thickness of a work affected layer formed of fine grains on the surface is 0.5 μm or less.

A method comprising incorporating indium into an entire Sn film for preventing the growth of whiskers from the Sn film, wherein the Sn film is applied to a metallic substrate.

Metal surface pretreatments using ionic liquids prior to electroplating are disclosed. The surface treatments include forming an activated metal substrate surface by removing any naturally formed metal oxide layers formed on the surfaces of the metal substrates. According to some embodiments, the surface treatments include exposing the metal substrate to a non-aqueous ionic liquid. In some embodiments, an electrical current is applied to the metal substrate to assist removal of the metal oxide layer. The electrical current can be a pulsed anodic current. After activating the surface, a metal layer can be deposited on the activated surface. In some embodiments, the metal layer is electrodeposited in the same ionic liquid used to form the activated surface. The resultant metal coating is resistant to scratching and peeling.

The present invention is directed to battery system and operation thereof. In an embodiment, lithium material is plated onto the anode region of a lithium secondary battery cell by a pulsed current. The pulse current may have both positive and negative polarity. One of the polarities causes lithium material to plate onto the anode region, and the opposite polarity causes lithium dendrites to be removed. There are other embodiments as well.

An aqueous acidic copper electroplating bath that produces a satin deposit includes a source of copper ions, an acid, a satin additive, and optionally one or more acidic copper electroplating bath additive(s), wherein the satin additive includes a block copolymer with the structure of RO(EO)m(PO)nH.

An electrolyte solution for iron-tungsten plating is prepared by dissolving in an aqueous medium a divalent iron salt (e.g., iron (II) sulfate) and an alkali metal citrate (e.g., sodium citrate, potassium citrate, or other alkali metal citrate) to form a first solution, dissolving in the first solution a tungstate salt (e.g., sodium tungstate, potassium tungstate, or other potassium tungstate) to form a second solution, and dissolving in the second solution a citric acid to form the electrolyte solution. An iron-tungsten coating is formed on a substrate using the electrolyte solution by passing a current between a cathode and an anode through the electrolyte solution to deposit iron and tungsten on the substrate.