EP0480703A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Producing metal patterns on a substrate
Assignee: General Electric Co
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Filing: 1991-10-09
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-10-09
Abstract
Abstract Conductive patterns may be formed on the surface of thermally inefficient substrates by depositing a uniform layer of metal thereover whose upper surface is substantially UV absorbing followed by laser ablation of the deposited metal to leave the deposited metal only in the desired metal pattern. Thermally efficient substrates (10) may be rendered thermally inefficient by the deposition of a thermally inefficient material thereon. That thermally inefficient material may be either electrically insulating or a metal. A two layer metallization comprising a first, thermally inefficient reactive metal (22) and a second UV absorbing metal (24) is preferred. When disposed on a thermally inefficient substrate, this two layer metallization ablates reactively as the two layers burn off together. This laser ablation process substantially roughens the surface of polymer dielectrics and may be used to repair open traces in printed circuit structures.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert John Wojnarowski
- 👤 Charles William Eichelberger
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 12:01
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/22; H05K3/225; B; B23; B23K; B23K26/00; B23K26/36; B23K26/40; H01; H01C; H01C17/00; H01C17/22; H01C17/24; H01C17/242; H05K3/02; H05K3/027; H05K3/06; H05K3/061; H05K3/062; H10; H10W; H10W70/00; H10W70/01; H10W70/05; B23K2103/00; B23K2103/02; B23K2103/04; B23K2103/05; B23K2103/08; B23K2103/12; B23K2103/14; B23K2103/15; B23K2103/16; B23K2103/166; B23K2103/172; B23K2103/18; B23K2103/26; B23K2103/30; B23K2103/42; B23K2103/50; B23K2103/54; H05K2201/00; H05K2201/01; H05K2201/0104; H05K2201/0112; H05K2201/03; H05K2201/0332; H05K2201/0335; H05K2201/0338; H05K2201/20; H05K2201/2081; H05K2203/00; H05K2203/03; H05K2203/0361; H05K2203/0384; H05K2203/17; H05K2203/173; H05K2203/175; H05K3/10; H05K3/108; H05K3/14; H05K3/143; H05K3/38; H05K3/381; H05K3/388
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
66 words
A method of producing a desired metal pattern on a surface of a thermally inefficient substrate comprising: depositing a layer of a first metal on said substrate; depositing a layer of a second, ultraviolet light absorbing metal on said first metal; exposing said second metal to intense ultraviolet light in accordance with said desired pattern to ablate said first and second metals from said substrate together.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method recited in claim 1 wherein: said first metal is selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium, magnesium, manganese, nichrome and stainless steel and alloys and mixtures thereof; and said second metal is selected from the group consisting of copper and gold and alloys and mixtures thereof.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method recited in claim 1 further comprising: etching those portions of said substrate from which said first and second metals were ablated.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
75 words
The method recited in claim 1 wherein said substrate is electrically conducting, said first metal is titanium and said method further comprises, after the exposing step, the step of: removing said second metal from said titanium; allowing the then exposed titanium to form a surface coating of titanium oxide; and electroplating said substrate to build up electroplated metal in those areas from which said metals were ablated without building up electroplated metal on said titanium.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
47 words
A method of producing a metal pattern on a surface of a thermally inefficient substrate comprising: depositing a layer of ultraviolet light absorbing metal on said substrate; exposing said metal to intense ultraviolet light in the inverse of said pattern to ablate said metal from said substrate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method recited in claim 5 wherein: said metal is selected from the group consisting of copper and gold.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
78 words
A method of producing a metal pattern on a surface of a high thermal conductivity substrate comprising: depositing a layer of a first thermally inefficient metal on said substrate, said layer being thick enough to render the resulting surface thermally inefficient; depositing a layer of a second, ultraviolet light absorbing metal on said first metal; exposing said second metal to intense ultraviolet light in the inverse of said pattern to ablate said second metal from said first metal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method recited in claim 7 wherein: said first metal is selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium, magnesium, manganese, nichrome and stainless steel; and said second metal is selected from the group consisting of copper and gold.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method recited in claim 2 or 8 wherein: said substrate is disposed in an oxidizing atmosphere during said exposing step.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method recited in claim 9 wherein: said first and second metals burn off the substrate together during said exposing step.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method recited in claim 2 or 10 wherein: said oxidizing atmosphere comprises air.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method recited in claim 9 wherein: said oxidizing atmosphere comprises oxygen.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method recited in claim 8 further comprising: etching exposed portions of said first metal with an etchant which does not attack said second metal.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method recited in claim 7 wherein said substrate is electrically conducting, said first metal is titanium and said method further comprises, after the step of exposing, the step of: selectively removing said second metal from said titanium; allowing the then exposed titanium to form a surface coating of titanium oxide; and electroplating said substrate to build up electroplated metal in those areas from which said metals were ablated without building up electroplated metal on said titanium.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method recited in claim 1, 5, 7, 9 or 12 wherein the step of exposing comprises: scanning an ultraviolet laser beam across said substrate.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
115 words
A method of producing a metal pattern on a surface of a high thermal conductivity substrate comprising: depositing a first layer of a metal on said substrate, depositing a second layer of a metal on said first layer of metal; depositing a third layer of a thermally inefficient metal on said second layer of metal, said layer being thick enough to render the resulting surface thermally inefficient; depositing a fourth layer of an ultraviolet light absorbing metal on said third layer of metal; exposing said fourth layer of metal to intense ultraviolet light in the inverse of said pattern to ablate said fourth layer of metal from the surface of said third layer of metal.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method recited in claim 16 further comprising the step of: etching exposed portions of said third layer of metal with an etchant to which said fourth layer of metal is substantially immune to pattern said third layer of metal.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method recited in claim 17 further comprising the step of: etching exposed portions of said second layer of metal with an etchant to which said third layer of metal is substantially immune.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method recited in claim 19 further comprising the step of: etching exposed portions of said first layer of metal in an etchant to which said second layer of metal is substantially immune.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method recited in claim 16 wherein: said first and third layers comprise titanium; and said second and fourth layers comprise copper.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
96 words
A method of increasing the surface area of a polymer comprising: depositing a first layer of metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium, nichrome, stainless steel, magnesium and manganese and alloys and mixtures thereof on said polymer; depositing a second layer of metal selected from the group consisting of copper and gold and alloys and mixtures thereof on saidfirst layer of metal; laser ablating said second and first metal layers together in an oxidizing atmosphere under conditions in which said first layer of metal burns off to leave said polymer with a structured surface.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
101 words
A method of repairing a broken trace in a printed circuit comprising: depositing a layer of a first metal on said printed circuit, in ohmic contact with both pieces of said trace and the across the gap between them; depositing a layer of a second, ultraviolet light absorbing, metal on said first metal; laser ablating said first and second metals from said printed circuit while leaving said metals in ohmic contact with both pieces of said broken circuit trace and continuous therebetween to leave said first and second metals as a conducting bridge connecting the two pieces of said broken trace.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
53 words
A method of trimming a resistor comprising: depositing a layer of a first metal on said resistor; depositing a layer of a second, ultraviolet light absorbing, metal on said first metal; laser ablating said first and second metals together from said resistor in a pattern to provide said resistor with a desired resistance.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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