Lead Inventor:
Alan C. West, Ph.D.
An electroplating technique which avoids a common pitfall of surface oxidation
Metal plating of articles or base substrates is a common industrial practice for decoration, reflection of light, protection against corrosion, or increased wearing quality. Some metals which have desirable physical or structural properties for use as base substrate material are extremely difficult to plate by simple immersion plating or electroplating techniques due to their propensity to oxidize in air. This results in the formation of an interfering metal-oxide or insulating thin film on any exposed or etched surface of these metals. Existing methods for plating these materials involve a number of expensive and tedious substrate preparation steps. This technology avoids these pitfalls by eliminating surface exposure to air.
Laser ablation of oxidized layer while immersed eliminates surface contact with air
This technology significantly improves upon existing methods by devising a system and method for laser oxide removal of the thin-film followed immediately by plating/etching of the exposed surface by immersion. This technology reduces the process to one or two steps, greatly improving the efficiency of plating/etching materials naturally coated by thin films, also resulting in uniformly thin or varying thickness plating, whichever is desired.
Applications:
-- Electroplating of hard to plate metals
-- Patterning of metals
-- Increased metal corrosion resistance
-- Increased metal surface reflection
Advantages:
-- Plating technique reduced to one or two steps
-- Laser allows for mask-less patterning
-- Easily vary thickness of surface layer without worrying about oxidation
Patent Information: 20080142367 ~ see link below.
Licensing Status: Available for licensing and sponsored research support
Patent No. 8,529,738