Leveler compounds
View Patent ↗Leveling agents for metal plating baths are provided. Plating baths containing such leveling agents provide metal deposits having substantially level surfaces. Such leveling agents may be selected to selectively incorporate desired levels of impurities into the metal deposit.
1. A composition comprising a source of metal ions, an electrolyte, and a polymeric leveling agent comprising as polymerized units an ethyleneically unsaturated nitrogen-containing heterocyclic monomer and a (meth)acrylate monomer, the polymeric leveling agent is included in the composition in amounts of 0.5 ppm to 10.000 ppm.
2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the metal of the metal ions is copper.
3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the ethyleneically unsaturated nitrogen-containing heterocyclic monomer is aromatic.
4. The composition of claim 3 , where the ethyleneically unsaturated nitrogen-containing heterocyclic monomer is vinyl imidazole.
5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the (meth)acrylate monomer is chosen from one or more poly(ethylene glycol) (meth)acrylates and poly(ethylene glycol) alkyl ether (meth)acrylates.
6. A method of depositing a metal on a substrate comprising the steps of: contacting the substrate with the composition of claim 1 ; and applying a current density for a period of time to deposit a metal layer on the substrate.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the substrate is an electronic device.