A method of manufacturing a package, comprising embedding the semiconductor chip with an encapsulant comprising a transition metal in a concentration in a range between 10 ppm and 10,000 ppm; selectively converting of a part of the transition metal, such that the electrical conductivity of the encapsulant increases; and plating the converted part of the encapsulant with an electrically conductive material.

A method of forming a patterned metal unit on an article. The method includes the steps of: providing an article that has an insulating surface; transferring a catalyst layer onto the insulating surface of the article, the catalyst layer including a catalytic material; removing a part of the catalyst layer to form a patterned catalyst layer; and forming a patterned metal layer on the patterned catalyst layer by an electroless plating technique to obtain a patterned metal unit that is constituted by the patterned catalyst layer and the patterned metal layer.

Methods for manufacturing electrically-conductive proppant particles are disclosed. The methods can include preparing a slurry containing water, a binder, and a raw material having an alumina content, atomizing the slurry into droplets, and coating seeds containing alumina with the droplets to form a plurality of green pellets. The green pellets can be contacted with an activation solution containing at least one catalytically active material to provide activated green pellets including the at least one catalytically active material. The method can include sintering the activated green pellets to provide a plurality of proppant particles. The plurality of proppant particles can be contacted with a plating solution containing one or more electrically-conductive material to provide electrically-conductive proppant particles.

Electrically-conductive silver metal is provided in a pattern on a substrate having a first supporting side and a second opposing supporting side. One or both of the first supporting side and the second opposing supporting side has one or more electrically-conductive silver metal containing patterns containing the electrically-conductive silver metal; an -oxy carboxylate; a 5- or 6-membered N-heteroaromatic compound; and a polymer that is either (i) a hydroxy-containing cellulosic polymer or (ii) a non-cellulosic acrylic polymer having a halo- or hydroxy-containing side chain. Such articles can be used in various devices and electrodes.

A package which comprises a first encapsulant configured so that electrically conductive material is plateable thereon, and a second encapsulant configured so that electrically conductive material is not plateable thereon.

A technology capable of reducing contamination of a semiconductor substrate above which a nickel film is disposed is provided. A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; an aluminum alloy film disposed on at least one of a front surface and a back surface of the semiconductor substrate; a catalyst metal film disposed above the aluminum alloy film and exhibiting catalytic activity for autocatalytic reaction that deposits nickel; an electroless nickel plating film disposed on the catalyst metal film; and a reactant layer disposed between the aluminum alloy film and the catalyst metal film and containing metal of the catalyst metal film.

Electrically-conductive silver metal can be provided in a thin film or pattern on a substrate from a silver complex having reducing silver ions and represented by: ##STR00001##
wherein L represents an -oxy carboxylate; P represents a primary alkylamine compound; a is 1 or 2; b is 1 or 2; and c is 1, 2, 3, or 4, provided that when a is 1, b is 1, and when a is 2, b is 2. The silver complex is mixed in a hydroxy-free, nitrile-containing aprotic solvent with a polymer that is either (i) a hydroxy-containing cellulosic polymer or (ii) a non-cellulosic acrylic polymer having a halo- or hydroxy-containing side chain. The reducible silver ions in the a thermally sensitive thin film or pattern can be thermally converted to electrically-conductive metallic silver under suitable heating conditions to provide a product article that can be used in various devices.

Electrically-conductive silver metal can be provided in a thin film or pattern on a substrate from a silver complex having reducing silver ions and represented by:
(Ag.sup.+).sub.a(L).sub.b(P).sub.c (I)
wherein L represents an -oxy carboxylate; P represents a 5- or 6-membered N-heteroaromatic compound; a is 1 or 2; b is 1 or 2; and c is 1, 2, 3, or 4, provided that when a is 1, b is 1, and when a is 2, b is 2. The silver complex is mixed in a hydroxy-free, nitrile-containing aprotic solvent with a polymer that is either (i) a hydroxy-containing cellulosic polymer or (ii) a non-cellulosic acrylic polymer having a halo- or hydroxy-containing side chain. The reducible silver ions in the a thermally sensitive thin film or pattern can be thermally converted to electrically-conductive metallic silver under suitable heating conditions to provide a product article that can be used in various devices.

An integrated circuit (IC) package comprising a substrate having a dielectric, a first structure over at least a portion of the dielectric, the first structure comprising a molecular compound having a ligand coordinating moiety and a second structure over at least a portion of the first structure, the second structure comprising a metal, wherein the first structure is chemically bonded to the dielectric.

A ceramic device including a ceramic material, a patterned metal structure, and a surface activation material is provided. A surface of the ceramic material at least includes a first surface and a second surface that are not coplanar. The ceramic material has recesses on the surface thereof. The patterned metal structure is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The surface activation material is disposed on a surface of the recesses and located at an interface between the ceramic material and the patterned metal structure.