Surface Modification of a Liquid Crystalline Polymer Film Using 172 nm Vacuum Ultraviolet Light for Fabricating Copper Finepattern

This work reports on the surface modification of liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) films using 172 nm vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light for fabricating copper (Cu) finepattern on the surface. First, the LCP film was VUV-irradiated for 30~90 min under a pressure of 1. 0⨯10³ Pa. Surface wettability, topography and composition were investigated by water contact angle, atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. It was revealed that the LCP surface became hydrophilic without roughening the surface. From XPS measurements, the surface was confirmed to be covered with oxygen-containing groups. Secondly, an amino-terminated organosilane film was prepared on this film by chemical vapor deposition. Then, palladium (Pd) particles as a catalyst for electroless Cu plating were immobilized on a VUV-lithographically micropatterned amino-terminated film with coordinate bonds between amino-group and Pd(II) ions. Finally, as Pd(II) ions were reduced to Pd(0) by formaldehyde solution, Cu finepattern with 15μm wide were electroless plated on the surface.