JP2006013307A - Circuit formation etchant for subtractive method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a circuit formation etchant for a subtractive method which is compatible with circuit fining in recent years. <P>SOLUTION: In one embodiment, a copper circuit formation etchant is provided, which is mainly composed of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid and comprises amine and/or azine as an additive. In another embodiment, a mask pattern of a non-circuit part is formed by a dry film resist on a copper layer of a copper-clad lamination wherein a copper thin layer is formed on a resin substrate; a copper layer of the non-circuit part between the mask patterns of the dry film resist is etched; and a copper circuit is formed by removing the dry film resist, thus forming a copper circuit substrate. In the method, the copper layer of the non-circuit part is etched by means of the etchant. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an etching solution for forming a circuit used when etching away a copper layer in a non-circuit portion between mask patterns of a dry film resist in a manufacturing process of a printed circuit board by a subtractive method.

  A so-called subtractive method is widely used as a method for manufacturing a printed circuit board. In the subtractive method, a layer such as a dry film is formed on a copper-clad laminate in which a thin layer of copper is formed on a resin substrate, a circuit pattern is exposed and developed, and then an etching process is performed on a non-circuit portion. In this method, a copper circuit pattern is formed by removing copper.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of a typical subtractive process. A copper plating layer 2 is formed on the surface of the resin substrate 1 by electrolytic plating (b). Alternatively, the copper electroless plating layer 2 may be formed on the surface of the substrate 1 by an electroless plating method. Thereby, a substrate (copper-clad laminate) in which a thin layer of copper is formed on the surface of the substrate is obtained. Alternatively, a copper-clad laminate in which a thin copper layer is previously formed on the surface of the substrate may be separately obtained and used. Next, the circuit portion is masked with a dry film resist (DFR) 3 (c). Next, a portion of the copper layer 2 that is not masked by DFR, that is, an unnecessary copper layer that becomes a non-circuit portion is removed by etching (d). Next, the DFR is removed with a caustic soda aqueous solution or a caustic potassium aqueous solution to form a copper circuit pattern 4 (e), and further, if necessary, the circuit part is plated with nickel / gold, thereby protecting the terminal protective layer. To complete the printed circuit board.

In the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board by the subtractive method as described above, an etching solution for forming a circuit for removing the copper layer in the non-circuit portion of step d is important.
Conventionally, various etching solutions mainly composed of hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid have been proposed as planar treatment solutions for copper and copper alloys. For example, see Patent Documents 1, 2, 3, 4 and the like. However, these etchants are intended for soft etching of copper surfaces, copper surface shapes, and copper surface finishing, and are effective mainly for planar copper processing. However, it was not assumed to be used for etching a complicated shape as in the circuit forming process in the subtractive construction method described above. For these reasons, cupric chloride and ferric chloride having an etch factor of 4 to 5 are mainly used as etchants for circuit formation, and hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etchants ( Etch factors 1-2) are not used.

  Here, the etch factor is the ratio of the etching rate in the vertical direction and the etching rate in the horizontal direction when etching is performed. As shown in FIG. 2, when a metal layer such as a copper layer partially masked by DFR is etched away by an etchant, the surface of the copper layer 2 that is not masked by DFR 3 is initially etched (FIG. 2). (A)). Reference numeral 1 denotes a resin substrate. When the etching progresses and the vertical surface below the DFR is exposed, the etching also proceeds on this surface (FIG. 2B). As a result, the shape of the finally obtained copper layer is as shown in FIG. In this case, the ratio (T / W) of the etching amount T in the vertical direction and the etching amount W in the horizontal direction is the etch factor. It can be seen that cupric chloride and ferric chloride have a larger etch factor than a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etching solution, and that the circuit portion caused by etching is less thin.

With recent miniaturization of electronic equipment, the thinning of printed circuit boards is progressing rapidly. However, when cupric chloride and ferric chloride are used as circuit forming etching solutions, the viscosity of these solutions is high. Therefore, when the line width is reduced, there is a problem that the liquid does not sufficiently penetrate into the gaps between the lines. For this reason, in the subtractive method, cupric chloride and ferric chloride based etchants are used as circuit forming etchants. It was difficult to form a fine line pattern using the Furthermore, cupric chloride and ferric chloride based etchants also have a problem of waste liquid treatment. Thus, attention is being focused on hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etchants. In particular, at the present time when printed circuit boards are becoming thinner, thinner, and more advanced, it is not difficult to predict that the demand for an etching solution for forming a thin line circuit will increase in the future.
JP-A-5-171469 JP-A-6-192855 JP-A-8-199376 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-184081

  An object of the present invention is to provide a circuit forming etching solution for a subtractive method that can cope with recent circuit miniaturization under the above-described circumstances.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have added a subtractive construction method by adding amines and / or azines as additives to a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etching solution. The present inventors have found that an etching solution that is extremely suitable for the selective removal of the copper layer in the non-circuit portion is provided, and the present invention has been completed.

  That is, one aspect of the present invention provides a copper circuit forming etching solution for a subtractive method, characterized by comprising hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid as main components and further containing amines and / or azines as additives. In the present invention, “copper” refers to both so-called metallic copper and copper alloys.

  The etching solution according to the present invention contains hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid as main components. The content of hydrogen peroxide in the etching solution according to the present invention is preferably 1 g / L to 100 g / L, more preferably 2 g / L to 50 g / L, and still more preferably 5 g / L to 20 g / L. In addition, the content of sulfuric acid in the etching solution according to the present invention is preferably 0.1 g / L to 25 g / L, more preferably 1 g / L to 10 g / L, and still more preferably 2 g / L to 5 g / L. In the etching solution of the present invention, hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid function as main components for dissolving copper or a copper alloy.

  The etching solution according to the present invention is characterized by further containing amines and / or azines as additives in addition to the above-mentioned main components. By adding amines and / or azines, the etching solution according to the present invention exhibits extremely suitable characteristics for selectively removing the copper layer in the non-circuit portion of the subtractive method.

  In the subtractive method, when a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etching solution used as a surface finish for a copper material is used, the etching factor in the lateral direction is large because the etch factor is as small as 1 to 2. Furthermore, since the local etching by the local cell action proceeds at the contact interface between the DFR and the copper layer, the etching rate at the contact interface is high. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, the thinning of the circuit portion becomes extremely large, and a copper circuit board that can withstand practical use cannot be obtained.

  In the etching solution according to the present invention, amines and / or azines are included as additives. Amines and / or azines function as a circuit-forming improver and suppress thinning of the circuit due to lateral etching. Although not bound by theory, in the present invention, by adding amines and / or azines to a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etching solution, it is possible to suppress thinning of the circuit due to lateral etching. It can be considered that this is due to the following mechanism.

  The reaction mechanism in which copper is etched by cupric chloride or ferric chloride is considered as follows.

Formula 1

That is, the etching progresses when the copper layer Cu reacts with the second copper ions Cu ²⁺ or the ferric ions Fe ³⁺ and dissolves to become Cu ⁺ . Cu ⁺ and Fe ²⁺ produced by the copper dissolution reaction no longer have the ability to dissolve copper. That is, the cupric ion Cu ²⁺ or the ferric ion Fe ³⁺ defines the reaction rate, and if these ions are consumed, the etching reaction does not proceed.

As explained above, when etching a copper layer that is partially masked by DFR, as the etching progresses, lateral etching to the copper vertical plane below the DFR also occurs. (FIG. 2 (B)). However, when etching with cupric chloride or ferric chloride, the etching solution is sprayed vertically downward, so that the supply of the etching solution hardly occurs on the vertical surface of copper, and Cu ⁺ generated by dissolution of the copper layer Etching is difficult to proceed due to excessive Fe ²⁺ . On the other hand, since the etching solution is supplied on the horizontal surface of copper, the etching proceeds by supplying the second copper ions Cu ²⁺ or the ferric ions Fe ³⁺ . Therefore, it is considered that cupric chloride and ferric chloride have a large etch factor.

  On the other hand, a reaction mechanism in which copper is etched by a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etching solution is considered as follows.

Formula 2

  That is, first, copper is converted into copper oxide by hydrogen peroxide, and this is converted into copper sulfate by sulfuric acid, so that etching proceeds. Therefore, when a copper layer partially masked by DFR is etched with a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid based etching solution, the etching solution itself is supplied to the vertical surface of copper shown in FIG. Although it is difficult, since the reaction with sulfuric acid occurs here, the lateral etching proceeds. For this reason, it is considered that the etching solution of hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid system has a small etch factor, and the thinness of the circuit board due to the lateral etching is large.

  In the present invention, first, the sulfuric acid concentration in the etching solution is lowered. Accordingly, the lateral etching can be suppressed by reducing the progress of the reaction by the sulfuric acid. Moreover, it is thought that amines and / or azines suppress the progress of local etching due to local cell action at the copper-DFR interface. It is known that amines and / or azines have an etching protection effect on defective portions and can be used by adding them to an etching solution as a surface smoothing agent for a copper material, which is also based on a similar mechanism. Yes. That is, if there are fine defects on the surface of the copper material, the amines and / or azines preferentially protect the fine defect portion, so the copper material surface other than the defect portion is preferentially etched, and the surface of the copper material Becomes smooth.

  With the mechanism described above, selective etching of the copper layer in the non-circuit area with a hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid-based etchant containing amines and / or azines suppresses the progress of etching in the lateral direction. Thus, it is possible to form a copper circuit having a suitable shape with little thinning.

  In the etching solution according to the present invention, examples of amines that can be used as additives include linear amines and cyclic amines. More specifically, examples of the linear amine include tri-n-propylamine, tri-n-butylamine, tri-n-pentamine, and cyclohexylamine, and examples of the cyclic amine include pyridine, pyrrolidine, piperidine, and piperazine. be able to. In addition, examples of azines that can be used as an additive in the present invention include pyrazine, triazine, and tetrazine.

In the present invention, the addition amount of amines and / or azines is preferably 0.01 g / L to 100 g / L, more preferably 0.1 g / L to 50 g / L, and further more preferably 1 g / L to 20 g / L. preferable.
In the etching solution according to the present invention, the weight ratio of hydrogen peroxide to sulfuric acid is preferably 1: 2 to 10: 1, more preferably 1: 1 to 7: 1, and more preferably 2: 1 to 5: 1. : 1 is more preferable. Further, in the etching solution according to the present invention, the weight ratio of hydrogen peroxide + sulfuric acid to amines and / or azines is preferably 5: 1 to 100: 1 by weight, and 10: 1 to 70: 1. Is more preferable, and 20: 1 to 30: 1 is still more preferable.

The etching solution according to the present invention can be particularly suitably used for selective etching of a copper layer in a non-circuit portion in a printed circuit board production method by a subtractive construction method.
The present invention also relates to a method for producing a printed circuit board by the so-called subtractive method using the etching solution described above. That is, another aspect of the present invention is to form a non-circuit portion mask pattern with a dry film resist on a copper layer of a copper-clad laminate in which a thin layer of copper is formed on a resin substrate; Etching a non-circuit portion copper layer between patterns; removing a dry film resist to form a copper circuit; and forming a copper circuit board by etching a non-circuit portion copper layer; The present invention relates to a method characterized in that the method is performed with the etching solution according to the present invention described above.

  In the method for producing a printed circuit board by the subtractive method according to the present invention, the copper layer can be formed on the board by a method known in the art. For example, a copper layer can be formed on the substrate by electrolytic plating, or a thin Pd layer can be formed on the substrate in advance, and a copper layer can be formed on the substrate by electroless plating. Furthermore, a printed circuit board can be formed according to the present invention using a copper-clad laminate on which a thin copper layer is formed. However, the present invention is particularly suitable for circuit formation etching in a subtractive method using a substrate having a copper layer made of electrolytic copper. Formation of the mask pattern with the dry film resist on the formed copper layer can be performed by a method known in the art. After the selective etching of the non-circuit portion, the step of removing the dry film resist can be performed by a method known in the art.

  The following examples further illustrate the present invention, but the present invention is not limited by the following description.

Example 1
The etching liquid concerning this invention was formed by mix | blending the following components.
Hydrogen peroxide: 20g / L
Sulfuric acid: 4g / L
Pyridine: 0.025g / L
Sodium phenolsulfonate monohydrate: 1g / L
Pure water: remaining amount Sodium phenol sulfonate was added as a hydrogen peroxide stabilizer.

  An electrolytic copper foil (thickness 20 μm) was stuck on the resin substrate, and 0.5 μm was etched with a surface treatment solution (manufactured by Ebara Densan, NBS-II) as a pretreatment. After partially masking (patterning: wiring pitch 150 μm, masking part = line width 84 μm, non-masking part = space 66 μm) by DFR (Hitachi Chemical: H2025, thickness 25 μm), the electrolytic copper foil layer of the non-masking part Then, the copper layer was etched away by spraying the above etching solution to form a circuit board. The etching solution was sprayed until there was no remaining copper between the circuits. The temperature of the etching solution in the etching process was 40 ° C., and the spray pressure of the etching solution was 0.1 MPa.

  4 and 5 show cross-sectional photographs of the formed copper circuit board. A circuit with very little thinning of the circuit and no tailing was formed. The line width at the top of the circuit was 74 μm, the space was 76 μm, and the etch factor was 4.1.

Comparative Example 1
The etching liquid of this comparative example was formed by mix | blending the following components.
Hydrogen peroxide: 20g / L
Sulfuric acid: 180 g / L
1,4-butanediol: 20 g / L
Sodium phenolsulfonate monohydrate: 1g / L
Pure water: remaining amount

  A circuit was formed by the same operation as in Example 1 except that the above-mentioned composition was used as the circuit forming etching solution. Before the circuit was completely formed, the DFR was peeled off and further etching could not be performed, and the experiment was stopped. 6 and 7 show cross-sectional photographs of the formed copper circuit board when the DFR is peeled off.

Comparative Example 2
The etching liquid of this comparative example was formed by mix | blending the following components.
Hydrogen peroxide: 20g / L
Sulfuric acid: 30g / L
1,4-butanediol: 20 g / L
Sodium phenolsulfonate monohydrate: 1g / L
Pure water: remaining amount

  A circuit was formed by the same operation as in Example 1 except that the above-mentioned composition was used as the circuit forming etching solution. Cross-sectional photographs of the formed copper circuit board are shown in FIGS. The formed circuit was thin and thin, and had a semicircular shape, which was not practically usable.

  According to the circuit forming etching solution for a subtractive construction method according to the present invention, when forming a copper microcircuit by the subtractive construction method, it is possible to suppress the thinning and skirting shape of the circuit portion, and to reduce the size of the printed circuit board and It can cope with thinning sufficiently.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a manufacturing process of a printed circuit board by a subtractive construction method. It is a figure which shows how to advance the etching in the copper etching process of the non-circuit part in a subtractive construction method. It is a figure which shows the cross-sectional shape of the circuit formed by the subtractive construction method using the conventional hydrogen peroxide / sulfuric acid type etching liquid. 2 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section of a copper circuit board obtained in Example 1. FIG. 2 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section of a copper circuit board obtained in Example 1. FIG. 2 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section of a copper circuit board obtained in Comparative Example 1. FIG. 2 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section of a copper circuit board obtained in Comparative Example 1. FIG. 4 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section of a copper circuit board obtained in Comparative Example 2. FIG. 4 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section of a copper circuit board obtained in Comparative Example 2. FIG.

Claims (6)

  An etching solution for forming a copper circuit for a subtractive method, comprising hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid as main components and further containing amines and / or azines as additives.   Hydrogen peroxide content is 1g / L-100g / L, sulfuric acid content is 0.1g / L-25g / L, amines and / or azines content is 0.01g / L-100g / L The etching solution according to claim 1.   The etching solution according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the additive is at least one selected from amines selected from linear amines and cyclic amines and / or azines selected from pyrazine, triazine, and tetrazine. .   A circuit pattern mask pattern is formed on a copper layer of a copper-clad laminate having a thin copper layer formed on a resin substrate using a dry film resist or the like; a copper layer in a non-circuit area between the mask patterns of the dry film resist A method for forming a copper circuit board by removing a dry film resist to form a copper circuit, wherein the etching of the copper layer in the non-circuit portion is performed with the etching solution according to claim 1. A method characterized by that.   The content of hydrogen peroxide in the etching solution is 1 g / L to 100 g / L, the content of sulfuric acid is 0.1 g / L to 25 g / L, and the content of amines and / or azines is The method according to claim 4, which is 0.01 g / L to 100 g / L.   5. The additive contained in the etching solution is at least one selected from amines selected from linear amines and cyclic amines and / or azines selected from pyrazine, triazine, and tetrazine. Or the method of 5.