Polymer etchant and method of using same
Provided is a composition for etching polymeric materials comprising an aqueous solution including an alkali metal salt and glycine.
1. A process comprising:
providing a polymeric film;
contacting said polymeric film with an aqueous solution comprising
from about 5 wt. % to about 55 wt. % of an alkali metal salt, and
from about 5 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of glycine; and
etching the polymeric film to form features in the polymeric film.
2. A process according to claim 1 wherein said aqueous solution comprises from about 30 wt. % to about 45 wt. % of said alkali metal salt.
3. A process according to claim 1 wherein said aqueous solution comprises from about 10 wt. % to about 20 wt. % of said glycine.
4. A process according to claim 1 wherein said aqueous solution comprises about 42 wt. % of said alkali metal salt and about 18 wt. % of said glycine.
5. A process according to claim 1 wherein said aqueous solution comprises about 35 wt. % of said alkali metal salt and about 12 wt. % of said glycine.
6. A process according to claim 1 wherein said alkali metal salt is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, and cesium hydroxide.
7. A process according to claim 1 wherein said aqueous solution further comprises ethylene diamine.
8. A process according to claim 1 wherein said aqueous solution comprises from about 5 wt. % to about 55 wt. % of an alkali metal salt and about 5 wt. % to about 30 wt. % glycine, and about 2 wt. % to about 8 wt. % ethylene diamine.
9. A process according to claim 1 wherein said polymeric film selected from the group consisting of polyesters, polycarbonates, polyimides, and liquid crystal polymers.
10. A process according to claim 1 wherein said polymeric film is a polyimide film comprising a monomer selected from the group consisting of aromatic dianhydride and aromatic diamine.
11. A process according to claim 1 wherein said polymeric film comprises a monomer selected from the group consisting of biphenyl tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BBDA) and phenyl diamine (PDA).