Atotech's new and "green" electroless copper process, Ecoganth MV, enables PCB and IC-Substrate manufacturers to meet technical and ecological requirements while, at the same time, avoiding all harmful substances that are used in conventional processes. Ecoganth MV is free of formaldehyde, nickel, phosphorous and cyanides. Adding to this its biodegradable complexing agent makes Ecoganth MV a truly environmentally friendly and health wise safe to use process.

New Reducing Agent
Formaldehyde is used as the standard reducing agent in nearly all existing electroless copper bath established within the PCB industry. However, formaldehyde is also known as carcinogenic and thereby inherits a significant risk potential that needs to be overcome.

"Our new and truly environmentally friendly electroless copper bath process, called Ecoganth MV, is based on an alternative reducing agent. It has been combined with a biodegradable complexing agent for the first time," states Lars-Eric Pribyl, Global Product Manager BTT PTH (Business Technology Team, Plating Through Hole) at Atotech Deutschland in Berlin, Germany. "Furthermore, it is fully compatible to established conditioning and activation processes. Its high bath activity also makes it capable for mixed production (ABF resins and cores)." Other benefits include, but are not limited to, a high throwing power and a deposition rate which is adjustable by temperature and stabilizer dosing.

New Process
Ecoganth MV primarily targets the IC substrate manufacturing process based on the semi-additive process (SAP) technology. The development was therefore focused on the ionic activation systems of Atotech's Neoganth series, which represents the industry standard for this application. For an optimal plating behavior, the process also uses a new stabilizer system, which was specifically developed for this basic formulation.

According to Mr. Pribyl, "The new stabilizer formulation of Ecoganth MV enables an absolutely blister free deposition with perfect coverage on all standard base materials which we tested so far - including high Tg FR4, halogen free and BT base materials. It even makes co-deposits such as Nickel superfluous."