Various embodiments relate to methods, apparatus, and systems for forming an interconnect structure, or a portion thereof. The method may include contacting the substrate with a functionalization bath comprising a first solvent and a functionalization reactant to form a modified first material, and then depositing a second material on the modified first material through electroless plating, electroplating, chemical vapor deposition, or atomic layer deposition. The first material may be a dielectric material, a barrier layer, or a liner, and the second material may be a barrier layer or a barrier layer precursor, a liner, a seed layer, or a conductive metal that forms the interconnect of the interconnect structure, according to various embodiments.

A semiconductor processing station includes first and second chambers, and a cooling stage. The second chamber includes a cooling pipe disposed inside the second chamber, and an external pipe. The cooling pipe includes a first segment disposed along a sidewall of the second chamber, and a second segment disposed perpendicular to the first segment and located above a wafer carrier in the second chamber. An end of the second segment is connected to an end of the first segment. The external pipe is connected to the second segment distal from the end of the second segment to provide a fluid to flow through the cooling pipe from an exterior to an interior of the second chamber. The fluid discharges toward the wafer carrier through the first segment. The first chamber is surrounded by the second chamber and the cooling stage, and communicates between the cooling stage and the second chamber.

A method and system for manufacturing an optical article is provided. The method may comprise providing at least one ophthalmic lens substrate having a surface; applying at least one conductive coating on at least a portion the ophthalmic lens substrate; and electroplating the ophthalmic lens substrate to form a plating layer that is in a contacting relationship with the conductive coating of the optical article. Other layers may also be applied.

Provided is a composition for forming a plating base on which plating is applied without a pretreatment, especially any activation process for the plating base, conventionally believed to be necessary, as well as a thus-formed plating base and a method of forming a plating coat over the plating base. The plating base is a coating film formed by applying and drying a metal nanoparticle dispersion liquid or a metal nanoparticle dispersion ink in which metal nanoparticles are protected with a small amount of protecting agent. Thus, a metal film can be formed by plating without operations such as substrate cleaning or catalyst imparting and activating. Since it is not necessary to wash the substrate with acid or base solution or to heat-treat it at a high temperature, many variations of materials become available for the substrate.

A method of manufacturing metal matrix composite (MMC) parts, including the steps of applying a metallic sheath around a bundle of MMC laminates, heating the bundle of MMC laminates in the metallic sheath at a curing or fusing temperature to consolidate the bundle of MMC laminates into a single cured or fused part, and then cooling the cured or fused part. The bundle of MMC laminates may be formed by removing surface contamination from the dry reinforcement fibers, creating a plurality of individual MMC laminates by plating dry reinforcement fibers with electroless nickel, and/or electrodeposited nickel or cobalt, and stacking each of the plurality of individual MMC laminates into a bundle. Autocatalytic and/or electroplating may be used as the primary means to incorporate fiber reinforcement into the metal matrix composite by covering and bonding fiber reinforcement into MMC laminates/plies and/or 3-D woven parts.

Metallized polymer particle compositions may comprise polymer particles, and a metal coating on an outer surface of at least a portion of the polymer particles. The metal coating comprises a plating metal and overlays a plurality of two-dimensional conductive nanoparticles and a catalyst metal. The metal coating may be formed by at least an electroless plating process conducted in the presence of the catalyst metal. The polymer particles may comprise thermoplastic polymer particles.

Two-dimensional conductive nanoparticles may facilitate preparation of metal coatings prepared via electroless plating. Articles having a metal coating may comprise: a polymer body, and a metal coating on at least a portion of an outer surface of the polymer body. The metal coating comprises a plating metal and overlays a plurality of two-dimensional conductive nanoparticles and a catalyst metal.

Provided herein are processes for transferring high quality large-area graphene layers (e.g., single-layer graphene) to a flexible substrate based on preferential adhesion of certain thin metallic films to graphene followed by lamination of the metallized graphene layers to a flexible target substrate in a process that is compatible with roll-to-roll manufacturing, providing an environmentally benign and scalable process of transferring graphene to flexible substrates.

The present invention pertains to an electrode-forming composition comprising: (a) at least one fluoropolymer [polymer (F)]; (b) particles of at least one active electrode material [particles (P)], said particles (P) comprising: —a core comprising at least one active electrode compound [compound (NMC)] of formula (I): Li[Li.sub.x(A.sub.pB.sub.QC.sub.w).sub.1-x]O.sub.2 (I) wherein A, B and C, different from each other, are selected from the group consisting of Fe, Ni, Mn and Co, x is comprised between 0 and 0.3, P is comprised between 0.2 and 0.8, preferably between 0.2 and 0.5, more preferably between 0.2 and 0.4, Q is comprised between 0.1 and 0.4, and W is comprised between 0.1 and 0.4, and —an outer layer consisting of a metal compound [compound (M)] different from Lithium, said outer layer at least partially surrounding said core; and (c) a liquid medium [medium (L)]. The present invention also pertains to a process for manufacturing said electrode-forming composition, to the use of said electrode-forming composition in a process for manufacturing a positive electrode and to the positive electrode obtainable therefrom.

The present invention relates to the use of water soluble lanthanide compounds as stabilizer in electrolytes for electroless metal deposition, an electrolyte as well as a method for the electroless deposition of metals, particularly layers of nickel, copper, cobalt, boron, silver, palladium or gold, as well as layers of alloys comprising at least one of the aforementioned metals as alloying metal.