MacDermid, the international company specialized in chemicals, has developed an innovative copper-plating method for LDS components. It is a currentless copper-plating process which, unlike the conventional methods to date, consists of a single copper bath.
 
The faster copper bath which is also more selective to LDS structures replaces the coating method often used in laser structuring ABS and PC/ABS materials, which consisted of two steps, the initial layer (strike) and build-up layer (full build). The metallization reduces amount of work and the equipment required, increasing productivity. The manufacturer estimates the savings potential of the new "MID Copper 100 B1" copper-plating method to be about 20 percent of metallization costs.

Contact at MacDermid is John Swanson, Managing Director Electronics Packaging.