JP2008081783A - Plating method accompanied by pretreatment in atmosphere and pretreatment apparatus for plating - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a constitution for a plating method by which it becomes possible to form a plating film on the surface of a metal by laser irradiation without performing a surface treatment process in advance. <P>SOLUTION: The plating method comprises irradiating the surface of a metal with laser pulse in a near infrared region having a pulse-width of 1-600 picoseconds in a nitrogen atmosphere to form a nitride film on the surface of the metal and thereafter, plating the surface of the metal on which the nitride film is formed, with a metal. By the method, it becomes possible to form a plating film without performing a surface treatment in advance. A pretreatment apparatus used in the method is equipped with a container 10 which is communicated with a nitrogen gas cylinder 5 and accommodates nitrogen gas. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a plating method and a pretreatment apparatus for plating involving a pretreatment on a metal surface.

  In order to perform a plating process on a predetermined area on a metal surface, an indispensable pre-stage process is required.

  Usually, after coating the metal surface with a masking agent as shown in Patent Document 1 and then performing an acid treatment for removing the oxide film in a degreasing process for removing dirt by the oil and fat component, a plating film is formed, Further, after that, a method of removing the masking agent with a chemical is adopted. However, such a method requires a masking agent and a chemical for the treatment, and the processing work is complicated.

  On the other hand, as shown in Patent Document 2, a method has been proposed in which a metal is inserted into a plating solution and a laser beam is irradiated on the metal surface. In such a method, an optical system that irradiates a laser for each specification. Therefore, the productivity is extremely poor, and it has not been put into practical use.

JP 2003-183877 A JP 2002-161369 A

  This invention makes it a subject to provide the structure of the plating method which enables formation of a plating film on the metal surface by laser irradiation, without a prior surface treatment process.

  In order to solve the above problems, the basic configuration of the present invention is to irradiate a metal surface with a laser pulse in the near infrared region having a pulse width of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds in a nitrogen atmosphere. And a plating method based on plating a metal on the nitride film forming surface after forming a nitride film on the metal surface.

  In the present invention, by removing the oils and oxides on the surface of the metal surface by an epoch-making method of forming a nitride film, the subsequent plating process can be performed without a prior masking step. A very efficient metal surface plating can be realized.

  As is clear from the basic configuration, the present invention forms a nitride film on the metal surface to be plated, and along with the formation, removes a soiled portion such as oil and fat, an oxide film, and the like. It has the greatest feature in realizing surface treatment.

  Therefore, metals to which the method of the present invention can be applied can be limited to metals that can form nitride compounds, but typical examples thereof include titanium, titanium alloy, iron, stainless steel, zirconium, tantalum and the like (note that It is possible to form a nitride film even with an alkaline earth metal such as calcium nitride, and also with a light metal such as aluminum nitride, but in the case of such a metal, it is not normally subject to plating treatment).

  It is experimentally confirmed that the nitride film can be formed only when the wavelength is in the near infrared region (usually 800 nm to 1100 nm) and the pulse width is 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds. On the contrary, the formation of a nitride film necessary for the pre-plating treatment has not been confirmed in both cases where the pulse width is long or short.

In the laser irradiation, the irradiation energy necessary for forming the nitride film is required. According to the experience of the inventors, in the case of 0.18 Joule / cm ² , the nitride film is sufficiently formed while nitrogen is blown out. Is possible.

  As the plating method after the pretreatment is performed by the method of the present invention, any of so-called electroplating, electroless plating, hot dipping, impact plating, vacuum plating, and chemical vapor deposition can be employed.

  And as a metal which forms a plating film, nickel, gold | metal | money, silver, copper, tin, zinc, etc. are employable similarly to the case of a prior art.

  When a plating film is formed in a predetermined region on the metal surface, there is a case where it is necessary not to form a plating film in other regions, and this is not an exception in the present invention.

  In preparation for such a case, in the present invention, in the oxygen atmosphere, the near infrared region having a pulse width of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds for a region of the metal surface where plating is not planned. It is also possible to adopt an embodiment characterized by a plating method on a metal surface based on forming an oxide film by irradiating a laser pulse of the region.

  Hereinafter, it demonstrates according to an Example.

Example 1
As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1 </ b> B, and 1 </ b> C, a configuration in which nitrogen gas is blown onto the surface of the metal 1, which is a region where plating is planned, is shown.

  In the method of the present invention, it is extremely difficult to realize the nitride film depending on the nitrogen content in the atmosphere.

  As the spraying method, when compared with the irradiation direction of the laser light 2, when the same direction as shown in FIG. 1A, in the oblique direction as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1 (c), it is possible to adopt both the case of orthogonal directions, but the coaxial direction as shown in FIG. 1 (a) can realize the most efficient formation of a nitride film. .

  In any direction as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, the laser light that has passed through the condenser lens 3 is condensed on the surface of the metal 1 to which nitrogen gas is blown. It is indispensable.

Example 2
As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the structure of the plating pretreatment apparatus of the present invention is shown, in which laser irradiation is possible in a nitrogen atmosphere region.
In particular,
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), a laser beam irradiation apparatus including a laser oscillation device and a condensing lens having a pulse width within a range of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds, a nitrogen gas cylinder, and the cylinder are communicated. And the structure by having provided the container which accommodates nitrogen gas, and provided the nozzle which can spray nitrogen gas on the condensing area | region of a laser beam with the nozzle provided in the outer side of the said container, or shown in FIG.2 (b) As described above, a laser oscillation device and a laser beam irradiation device including a condenser lens having a pulse width within a range of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds, a nitrogen gas cylinder and the cylinder can be connected, and nitrogen gas is A container to be housed, and at least a region where laser light enters and transmits through the base of the container 10 is formed of a transparent member, and Any of the configurations based on condensing the laser beam inside can be employed (in FIG. 2B, the left and upper portions of the mirror 8 are the same as those in FIG. The illustration of the portion is omitted).

In the case of the configuration in which the nozzle 4 is provided outside the container as shown in FIG. 2A, the nozzle can intensively inject nitrogen gas onto the metal surface to be pretreated.
On the other hand, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 2B, the entire region where laser irradiation is performed and pretreatment is performed can be brought into a nitrogen atmosphere.
In the case of the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2A, the container 10 and the gas cylinder 5 need to communicate with each other because of the spraying by the nozzle 4, but FIG. In the case of the embodiment corresponding to the above, since the nitrogen gas is filled in the container 10, the container 10 and the gas cylinder 5 do not necessarily need to communicate with each other as long as they can be connected.

FIG. 2A shows a configuration in which the laser beam is transmitted through the wall portion of the container 10 and the nozzle 4, but the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2A is limited to such a configuration. However, it is not possible to adopt a configuration in which the laser light does not pass through the container 10 and the nozzle 4.
However, when transmitting through the wall of the container 10 and / or the nozzle 4, it is indispensable to use a transparent material for at least the region through which the laser light 2 passes through the wall of the container and / or the nozzle 4. And

2 (a) and 2 (b), the condenser lens 3 can be installed either inside or outside the container 10 (FIG. 2 (a) shows that the condenser lens 3 is placed in the container. 10 shows a case where the condenser lens 3 is provided inside the container 10, and FIG. 2B shows a case where the condenser lens 3 is provided outside the container 10.
In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the beam shaping element 9 is allowed to pass in order to perform high-quality laser processing.

  The present invention can be used in a wide range of plating industry fields using pretreatment.

The structure of Example 1 is shown, (a) shows the case where nitrogen gas is blown in the same direction as the laser beam, and (b) shows the case where nitrogen gas is blown obliquely to the laser beam. (C) has shown the case where nitrogen gas is sprayed in the direction orthogonal to a laser beam. The structure of the plating pretreatment apparatus of Example 2 is shown, (a) shows the structure in which the nozzle is provided outside the container, and (b) shows the structure in which the nozzle is not provided (note that The dotted line in FIG. 2B shows a state where the gas cylinder and the container can be connected).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal plate 2 Laser beam 3 Condensing lens 4 Nozzle 5 Gas cylinder 6 Laser pulse oscillation device 7 Unit which controls laser output 8 Mirror 9 Beam shaping element 10 Container

Claims (7)

  In a nitrogen atmosphere, a nitride film is formed on the metal surface by irradiating the metal surface with a laser pulse in the near infrared region having a pulse width of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds. A plating method based on plating a metal on a film forming surface.   2. The plating method for a metal surface according to claim 1, wherein nitrogen gas is blown onto the metal surface, which is a region where plating is planned, by a gas nozzle.   The method for plating a metal surface according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the metal to be plated is titanium, titanium alloy, iron, stainless steel, zirconium or tantalum.   In an oxygen atmosphere, an oxide film is irradiated by irradiating a laser pulse in the near-infrared region having a pulse width of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds to a region of the metal surface where no plating film is scheduled to be formed The method for plating a metal surface according to claim 1, wherein:   A laser beam irradiation device including a laser oscillation device and a condensing lens having a pulse width within a range of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds, a nitrogen gas cylinder and a container that communicates with the cylinder and contains nitrogen gas; The plating pretreatment apparatus for realizing the plating method according to claim 1, wherein nitrogen gas can be sprayed onto a condensing region of laser light by a nozzle provided outside the container.   The laser beam is transmitted through the container and / or the nozzle, and at least a region where the laser beam is transmitted among the wall portion and / or the nozzle of the container is formed by a transparent member. The plating pretreatment apparatus according to 5.   A laser beam irradiation device including a laser oscillation device and a condenser lens having a pulse width within a range of 1 picosecond to 600 picoseconds, a nitrogen gas cylinder, and a container that can be connected to the cylinder and contains nitrogen gas And at least a region where the laser light enters and transmits through the wall portion of the container, and the laser light is condensed inside the container. A plating pretreatment device for realizing the plating method described.

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