A method of initiating and controlling electroless nickel plating on copper substrates carried into a plating bath on a continuous stainless steel web where the copper is electrically bussed or in physical contact with the steel is described. A bias current is applied to the plating bath and a feedback loop is established to determine initiation of plating as well as to ramp down the biasing current to prevent electro- or electroless plating of the web.

A substrate processing method includes preparing a substrate having, on a surface thereof, a first portion made of a silicon compound including nitrogen and a second portion made of a material different from the first portion; forming a SAM (Self-Assembled Monolayer) on the surface of the substrate; imparting a catalyst to the substrate by supplying a catalyst containing liquid onto the substrate on which the SAM is formed; and performing a plating on the substrate to which the catalyst is imparted. The forming of the SAM is carried out by supplying a SAM forming chemical, which does not have a functional group including nitrogen, onto the substrate.

A catalyst is imparted selectively to a plateable material portion 32 by performing a catalyst imparting processing on a substrate W having a non-plateable material portion 31 and the plateable material portion 32 formed on a surface thereof. Then, a hard mask layer 35 is formed selectively on the plateable material portion 32 by performing a plating processing on the substrate W. The non-plateable material portion 31 is made of SiO.sub.2 as a main component, and the plateable material portion 32 is made of a material including, as a main component, a material containing at least one of a OCH.sub.x group and a NH.sub.x group, a metal material containing Si as a main component, a material containing carbon as a main component or a catalyst metal material.

A micro fabricated electromagnetic device and method for fabricating its component structures, the device having a layered magnetic core of a potentially unlimited number of alternating insulating and magnetic layers depending upon application, physical property and performance characteristic requirements for the device. Methods for fabricating the high performing device permit cost effective, high production rates of the device and its component structures without any degradation in device performance resulting from component layering.

A liquid-phase process is provided for depositing metal layers in holes of an electronic module placed in a hermetic chamber, from a chemical liquid containing metal compounds intended to form a metal layer. The holes have a depth P and a diameter D such that D>80 m and P/D>10, and the process comprises at least one cycle comprising the following substeps: M1) bringing the chamber to a preset pressure P0 and filling the chamber with the liquid; M2) degassing the holes by bringing the chamber to a low pressure P1, with P1<P0; M3) returning the chamber to the pressure P0 and filling the chamber with the liquid; M4) depositing, in the holes, a metal layer issued from the liquid; M5) emptying the liquid from the chamber; and M6) explosively evaporating the liquid remaining in the holes by bringing the chamber to a low pressure P2, with P2<P1<P0; and reiterating the cycle comprising substeps M1 to M6 at least once in order to obtain one new metal layer per iteration.

The invention relates to nickel-coated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet composite powder, its preparation and high-performance composite ceramic cutting tool material. The composite powder has a core-shell structure with BNNS as the core and Ni as the shell. The self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool material is prepared by wet ball milling mixing and vacuum hot-pressing sintering with a phase alumina as the matrix, tungsten-titanium carbide as the reinforcing phase, nickel-coated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet composite powder as the solid lubricant and magnesium oxide and yttrium oxide as the sintering aids. The invention also provides preparation methods of the nickel-coated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet composite powder and the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool material.

A substrate processing method is provided for performing a plating processing on a substrate having, on a surface thereof, an impurity-doped polysilicon film containing a high concentration of impurities. The substrate processing method includes forming a catalyst layer by supplying, onto the substrate, an alkaline catalyst solution containing a complex of a palladium ion and a monocyclic 5- or 6-membered heterocyclic compound having one or two nitrogen atoms as a heteroatom; and forming a plating layer through electroless plating by supplying a plating liquid onto the substrate after the forming of the catalyst layer.

Electrochemical analysis method and system for monitoring and controlling the quality of electrochemical deposition and/or plating processes. The method uses a fingerprinting analysis method of an output signal to indicate whether the chemistry and/or process is operating in the normally expected range and utilizes one or more substrates as working electrode(s) and a) whereby the potential between the one or more working electrodes and one or more reference electrodes is analyzed to provide an output signal fingerprint which is represented as potential difference as a function of time or b) the input power of a process power supply to provide input energy in the form of current and/or potential between the working electrode(s) and a counter-electrode whereby the method utilizes the potential between the one or more working electrode(s) and at least one of: one or more reference electrodes; or one or more counter-electrodes; to provide an output signal fingerprint.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate holder configured to horizontally hold and rotate a substrate which has a recess and a base metal layer exposed from a bottom surface of the recess; and a pre-cleaning liquid supply configured to supply a pre-cleaning liquid such as dicarboxylic acid or tricarboxylic acid onto the substrate being held and rotated by the substrate holder, to thereby pre-clean the base metal layer. A temperature of the pre-cleaning liquid on the substrate is equal to or higher than 40 C.

The invention relates to an electrochemical analysis method for monitoring and controlling the quality of electrochemical deposition and/or plating processes whereby the electrochemical analysis method uses a fingerprinting analysis method of an output signal to have an indicator of whether the chemistry and/or process is operating in the normally expected range, whereby the method utilizes one or more substrates as working electrode(s) and a) whereby the potential between the one or more working electrodes and one or more reference electrodes being analyzed to provide an output signal fingerprint which is represented as potential difference as a function of time or b) the input power of a process power supply to provide input energy in the form of current and/or potential between the working electrode(s) and a counter-electrode whereby the method utilizes the potential between the one or more working electrode(s) and at least one of: one or more reference electrodes; or one or more counter-electrodes; to provide an output signal fingerprint. The invention also relates to an electrochemical system (FIG. 3).