Thermally stable dual metal coated laminate products made from textured polyimide film

Claim 2

A process for coating both surfaces of a polyimide sheet with copper in the absence of an adhesive, said process comprising contacting said sheet with a one- phase solution comprising a diamine with the formula H 2 N(CH 2 ) n NH 2 wherein n is an integer between 2 and 6, an alkali metal hydroxide, a water miscible alcohol and water for a time, and at a temperature sufficient to render the surfaces uniformly and substantially completely textured, treating said surfaces with a catalyst to create surfaces receptive to the electroless deposition of nickel or cobalt, depositing nickel or cobalt on said receptive surface by electroless deposition to form nickel or cobalt coated surfaces of said sheet, said deposited nickel or cobalt coatings being electrically conductive, forming microcracks in each of said nickel or cobalt coatings, baking said polyimide sheet coated with nickel or cobalt containing microcracks to volatilize components in said polyimide sheet while avoiding delamination of said coatings and depositing copper on said nickel surface or cobalt surface by electrolytic deposition to form exposed copper coatings on said polyimide sheet.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein said diamine is ethylenediamine.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1 wherein nickel is electrolessly deposited.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3 wherein the diamine is ethylenediamine.

Claim 6

The process of claims 3 or 4 where the initial metal layer is a nickel/boron alloy.

Claim 7

The process of claims 3 or 4 where the initial metal layer is a cobalt/boron alloy.

Claim 8

The process of claims 3 or 4 where the initial metal layer is an alloy of nickel/cobalt/boron.

Claim 9

The process of any one of claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said alkali metal hydroxide is potassium hydroxide.

Claim 10

The process of any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said alkali metal hydroxide is sodium hydroxide.

Claim 11

The process of any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said alkali metal hydroxide is mixture of potassium and sodium hydroxide.

Claim 12

The process of any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said alcohol is methanol.

Claim 13

The process of any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said alcohol is ethanol.

Claim 14

A process for coating both surfaces of a polyimide sheet with copper in the absence of an adhesive, said process comprising contacting said sheet with a one-phase solution comprising a diamine with the formula H 2 N(CH 2 ) n NH 2 where n is an integer between 2 and 6, an alkali metal hydroxide, a water miscible alcohol and water for a time, and at a temperature sufficient to render the surface uniformly and substantially completely textured, treating said surfaces with a catalyst to create surfaces receptive to the electroless deposition of nickel or cobalt, depositing nickel or cobalt on said receptive surface by electroless deposition to form nickel or cobalt coated surfaces of said sheet, said deposited nickel or cobalt coatings being electrically conductive, electrolytically depositing a thin layer of copper having a thickness less than about 2.0 μm on each of said nickel or cobalt coatings to form dual metal coatings, forming microcracks in each of said dual metal coatings, baking said polyimide sheet coating with said dual metal coatings containing microcracks to volatilize components in said polyimide sheet while avoiding delamination of said coatings and depositing copper on said dual metal coatings by electrolytic deposition to form exposed copper coatings on said polyimide sheet.

Claim 15

A process for coating both surfaces of a polyimide sheet with copper in the absence of an adhesive, said process comprising contacting said sheet with a one-phase solution comprising a diamine with the formula H 2 N(CH 2 ) n NH 2 where n is an integer between 2 and 6, an alkali metal hydroxide, a water miscible alcohol and water for a time, and at a temperature sufficient to render the surface uniformly and substantially completely textured, treating said surfaces with a catalyst to create surfaces receptive to the electroless deposition of nickel or cobalt, depositing nickel or cobalt on said receptive surface by electroless deposition to form nickel or cobalt coated surfaces of said sheet, said deposited nickel or cobalt coatings being electrically conductive, electrolytically depositing a thin layer of copper having a thickness less than about 2.0 μm on each of said nickel or cobalt coatings to form dual metal coatings, forming microcracks in each of said dual metal coatings, baking said polyimide sheet coating with said dual metal coatings containing microcracks to volatilize components in said polyimide sheet while avoiding delamination of said coatings and depositing copper on said dual metal coatings by electrolytic deposition to form exposed copper coatings on said polyimide sheet.

Claim 16

The process of claim 13 wherein said diamine is ethylenediamine.

Claim 17

The process of claim 13 wherein the nickel is electrolessly deposited.

Claim 18

The process of claim 15 wherein said diamine is ethylenediamine.

Claim 19

The process of claims 13 or 14 where the nickel or cobalt coating layer is a nickel/boron alloy.

Claim 20

The process of claims 13 or 14 where the nickel or cobalt coating layer is a cobalt/boron alloy.

Claim 21

The process of claims 13 or 14 where the nickel or cobalt coating layer is an alloy of nickel/cobalt/boron.

Claim 22

The process of any one of claims 13, 14, 15 or 16 wherein the electroless metal coating is coated directly with electrolytically deposited copper without drying between the step of depositing electroless metal and the step of depositing copper.

Claim 23

The process of any one of claims 13, 14, 15 or 16 wherein said alkali metal hydroxide is potassium hydroxide.

Claim 24

The process of any one of claims 13, 14, 15 or 16 wherein said alkali metal hydroxide is sodium hydroxide.

Claim 25

The process of any one of claims 13, 14, 15 or 16 wherein said alkali metal hydroxide is a mixture of potassium and sodium hydroxide.

Claim 26

The process of any one of claims 13, 14, 15 or 16 wherein said alcohol is methanol.

Claim 27

The process of any of claims 13, 14, 15 or 16 wherein said alcohol is ethanol.