International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072

Improvement of thickness uniformity in nickel

electroforming for the LIGA process
Hsiharng Yang a, Shung-Wen Kang b,*

a
Department of Automatic Engineering, Fushin Institute of Technology, Toucheng, I-Lan, 261, Taiwan, ROC
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tamkang University, Tamsui, Taipei 251, Taiwan, ROC
Received 5 November 1998; received in revised form 12 May 1999; accepted 12 November 1999

Abstract

An effective method to improve thickness uniformity in nickel electroforming for the LIGA process to
produce metallic microstructures is described. The deposited metal distribution is naturally a concave shape
over the whole area of the plating base proved by experiments. The edge thickness of the plating area is
usually twice or higher than the center of the plating area. A secondary cathode (guard ring) was applied
to improve the electroform uniformity. The experimental result of a Joule–Thomson micro-cooler proved
its feasibility. The thickness ratio of edge to center of a 500 µm sample decreased from 2.5 to 1.4. The
thickness uniformity improvement is achieved without a loss in plating rate in the center of the features.
 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Thickness uniformity; Nickel electroforming; LIGA; Metallic microstructures

1. Introduction

LIGA is an important technique to manufacturing three-dimensional microstructures. It is a

combination of lithography, electroforming, and plastic molding [1–3]. Products manufactured by
using LIGA and associated processes are developing in the world. Using deep-etch X-ray lithogra-
phy, wall structures are generated in the submicrometer range at aspect ratios of up to 500 [4].
This paper deals with an effective technique to improve thickness uniformity in nickel electro-
forming for the LIGA process.
Nickel electroforming is used to deposit the nickel into the free space of the resist mold. Many
electroformed microstructures have been made from nickel electroforming to produce metallic

* Corresponding author. Fax: +886-2-2620-9750.

E-mail address: david1@mail.tku.edu.tw (S.-W. Kang).

0890-6955/00/$ - see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 0 - 6 9 5 5 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 0 7 - 8
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microstructures [5,6]. Nickel sulfamate electrolyte is commonly used for thick electrodeposition
due to its high deposition rate and low internal stress of the plated nickel [7].
The electroforming process starts at a seed layer coated on the substrate. The plating base was
sputtered chromium followed by sputtered nickel to provide good results for the basic LIGA
process [5]. Three different seed layers for the nickel electroplating were investigated. A three-
layer metal system was deposited on oxided silicon using a filament evaporator. The metals, in
order of deposition, were 25 Å chromium (as adhesion layer), 1 500 Å copper, and 1 000 Å
chromium [6].
Resist molds are generated by using lithographic processes to produce three-dimensional plastic
molds. Different lithography can achieve different levels of resolution and height aspect ratio on
microstructures. Deep X-ray and UV lithography used for micromechanics were investigated [8].
An illustration of a micro-column in nickel fabricated by electroforming the resist mold after
planarization and stripping the resist is Fig. 1. The resist mold was fabricated by exposing X-ray
lithography through a mechanically machined X-ray mask [9].
Non-uniform thickness of electroformed objects was consistently observed. The deposited metal
distribution is a concave shape over the whole area of the plating base. The edge thickness of
the plating area is usually twice as high as the center of the plating area. Fig. 2 is a schematic
diagram of the electrodeposition profile onto the substrate. The middle location between two sides
is the lowest point over the profile as shown in the figure. The highest growth rate is on the edges
of the plating area which leads to overplating (mushrooming) of the boundaries as illustrated in

Fig. 1. An illustration of a nickel micro-column with height 250 µm fabricated by the LIGA process after stripping
the resist mold. Scale bar =100 µm.
 H. Yang, S.-W. Kang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072 1067

Fig. 2. A schematic diagram of the deposition profile by electroforming the resist mold.

Fig. 3. This article is aimed at nickel electroforming process to improve thickness uniformity. An
effective and practical method to improve the LIGA process is presented.

2. Theory

The deposition process involves localized electrochemical deposition. An ion must reach the
electrode/solution interface, receive electrons to become an atom, and then join other atoms to
form a crystal. A potential difference must be applied between the anode and cathode. In a conven-
tional plating operation, four processes operate to supply metal ions to the depleted solution at
the cathode, and to transfer them from the enriched electrolyte at the anode.
First, electron transfer is considered as the direct factor. At equilibrium, a balance between
chemical and electrical potential occurs at the electrode/solution interface manifesting itself as an
1 to 30 nm thick charged region known as the double layer [10]. The electrochemical reactions

Fig. 3. The non-uniform thickness after electroforming.

1068 H. Yang, S.-W. Kang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072

are field-dependent heterogeneous, an important factor determining their rates will be the local
concentration of reacting and other particles at charge surface. The simplest model of the distri-
bution of ions at interfaces was proposed by Helmoltz, who consider the behavior of the “double-
layer” of charges on the surface [11]. To effect an electron transfer, an activation energy is
required for an ion or molecule to rid itself of solvating molecules, travel through the double
layer, and adjust its hydration sphere for electron transfer. The surface is regarded as one of the
plates of a condenser. At the electrical potential used in electroplating, electron transfer rates
generally dominate over other factors near electrode surface region.
Second, diffusion causes ions to move from the uncharged bulk of the electrolyte to the
impoverished region at the cathode according to the Fick’s first law of diffusion (Eq. (1)) [12].
dQ Cb−Cs
⫽D (1)
dt d
Where dQ/dt is the diffusion rate (mole m⫺2 s⫺1), D is the diffusivity constant (m2 s⫺1), d is the
thickness of the double layer (m), Cb is the metal concentration at the bulk solution (mole m⫺3),
and Cs is the metal ion concentration at the electrode surface (mole m⫺3).
The metal ion concentration in the double layer is different than the bulk solution as shown in
Fig. 4. There are concentration gradients existing on both cathode and anode surface.
Third, electrical migration of cations is superimposed on diffusion (the motion is reversed with
an anionic complex). The current, i, due to the migration of charged ions in solution is proportional
to the electric field E, by Ohm’s law [10], Eq. (2).
i⫽s∗E (2)

and
s⫽z∗u∗C∗F (3)

Fig. 4. Metal ion concentration in the electrolyte.

 H. Yang, S.-W. Kang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072 1069

Where s is the conductivity of electrolyte, z is the ionic charge, u is the ion mobility, C is the
ion concentration, and F is one Faraday (9.6485×104 C mole⫺1).
Migration generally plays a secondary role in mass transport to the depleted region because
much of the current is carried by ions of species that do not react in deposition.
Fourth, convection currents tend to move the depleted solution away from the cathode and
replace it with fresh solution from the unaltered bath. Agitation is often used to force convection,
leading to the flow of bulk solution into the depleted layer and increasing deposition rates. In
spite of agitation, deposition remains diffusion limited because viscous forces near the electrode
surface impede the influx of fluid.
The deposit quantities of electroplated materials were generated from Faraday’s law [12]. The
mass of electrodeposit is proportional to the quantity of coulombs as shown in Eq. (4) [12].
Mass of electrodeposit ⬀ number of coulombs used (4)

It can be expressed mathematically as the Eq. (5).

i∗T∗A
M⫽ (5)
z∗F

Where M is the mass of electrodeposit, i is the input current, T is the plating time, A is the
atomic weight, z is the valence number, and F is one Faraday. Rewrite Eq. (5) as Eq. (6).
M⫽K∗i∗T (6)

The constant K is called the electrochemical equivalent, the unit is g/A∗h. The mass of depo-
sition is shown in Eq. (7).
M⫽r∗a∗t (7)

Mass is equal to the metal density (r) multiple the plating area (a) and thickness (t). Substitute
Eq. (6) into Eq. (7) and rewrite as Eq. (8).
i
K
t a
⫽ (8)
T r

Rewrite Eq. (8), the growth rate equation is expressed as Eq. (9).
q∗K
h⫽ (9)
r
Where h is the growth rate and ⌰ is the area current density.
For the nickel plating K=1.095 g/A∗h and r=8.9 g/cm3 according to Gramham [13]. To easily
calculate the growth rate, Eq. (9) can be written as Eq. (10).
1070 H. Yang, S.-W. Kang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072

h⫽0.0205∗q (10)
Where h is the thickness growth rate of deposition in µm/min, ⌰ is the area current density
deposition in mA/cm2, and 0.0205 is the conversion constant.

3. Experiments

The nickel electroforming setup is basically same as the electroplating except for thick films
in electroforming. A four-liter Pyrex glass beaker was used as an electroforming tank allowing
a four-inch substrate inside. The plating bath was heated by a hot plate/stirrer placed beneath the
beaker. A glass temperature probe from the hot plate/stirrer was placed in the electrolyte to control
the bath temperature within ±1°C. The electrolyte acidity was measured by a portable digital pH
meter with resolution 0.1 value. An in-tank circular filtration including a filter tube and a carbon
treatment was used. Polypropylene filter tubes were recommended for the nickel sulfamate electro-
lyte which has a working pH range 0–14. The filter used in this work had 5-µm pores, which is
the finest density tube available commercially. To avoid impurity deposits on microstructures,
high purity was required in the electroforming process. The carbon-filter tube had 0.5-µm rating
to insure all organic impurities filtered. The circular flow rate was controlled by the adjust valve
at 20 tank volume turnovers per hour. The amount of electrolyte for this electroforming station
is five liters.
Two directions were tried to improve thickness uniformity of deposited samples: change of
operational conditions and modification of electroforming setting.

4. Results

To enhance the thickness uniformity of electroforming, several parameters were changed. First
an attempt was made to improve the thickness uniformity by changing the anode geometry.
According to the electric field distribution, the same size anode and cathode should have a uniform
distribution of plating current. However, the experimental results showed that anode geometry
had no effect on the improvement of thickness uniformity. Second, the spacing between anode
and cathode was investigated. Two electrodes were placed at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 cm, spacing to
test the uniformity effect. No sample showed thickness uniformity improvement by variations of
the electrode spacing. Third, different current waveforms were tried to improve thickness uniform-
ity. The electrical current waveforms were pulse-DC, periodical (partial) reverse, periodical
reverse, and DC. The experimental results showed that DC plating has the smallest thickness ratio
of edge to center location of plating area. As all results showed the highest growth rate on edges
of the plating area, the thickness uniformity can be improved if it is possible to reduce the growth
rate on edges.
The apparatus to improve the electroforming uniformity is shown in Fig. 5. A secondary ring
was added to the electroforming station. The secondary cathode was a frame shaped like the
plating area and had a shape, which could locally reduce the growth rate of the primary cathode.
Fig. 6 illustrated an electroformed Joule–Thomson micro-cooler with its secondary cathode. No
 H. Yang, S.-W. Kang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072 1071

Fig. 5. The apparatus for uniform electroforming.

Fig. 6. The electroformed nickel mold for the micro-cooler with 200 µm wide and 500 µm deep channels as well as
its secondary cathode.

mushrooming existed on the boundaries of the sample even it was overplated. The entire J–T
micro-cooler excluding the drier and gas supplier is 20×50 mm in size. The micro-cooler has 200
µm wide and 500 µm deep channels.
The secondary cathode was placed at a specific distance away from the primary cathode when
electroforming. This spacing was limited to less than 2.5 mm; large spacing would not have any
effect on thickness uniformity improvement. Two power supplies were used; one was for the
primary electrode and the other is for the secondary electrode. Both electroforming cathodes used
the same anode. The current density for the secondary cathode was the same as for the primary
electrode. The objective of the secondary electrode was to reduce local ion concentration of the
“double layer” surface plating area, thus reducing the growth rate on the edges of the nickel
deposit. The thickness ratio of edge to center of 500 µm sample decreased from 2.5 to 1.4. The
1072 H. Yang, S.-W. Kang / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 40 (2000) 1065–1072

thickness uniformity improvement was achieved without a loss in plating rate in the center of
the features.

5. Conclusions

The technique of applying the secondary electrode has been proved the effect on thickness
uniformity in nickel electroforming process. Although this technique did not provide a complete
solution to solve the non-uniformity problem, it significantly reduced the thickness ratio of edge
to center of the plating sample.

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