Photoresist, pits

The use of photoresists to cover most of the metal surface and isolate individual pits has made possible detailed analysis of these entities, varying in radius from around 0.1 to 5 pm. The methods of examination include Auger spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray dispersive analysis, and atomic force microscopy (Ke and Alkyre, 1995). 

Convective mass transport from small cavities is relevant to through-mask electrodeposition and to localized corrosion and has hence received much attention. In localized corrosion, mass transport is important for determination of the local environment inside an active pit. For through-mask deposition, an understanding of mass transport may be important for design of mixing methods or for analysis of measured deposit profiles. The electrodeposition in circular or rectangular cavities formed by a photoresist has been studied by Kondo etal. it was found that the shapes of deposited bumps can be explained by calculations of vortex evolution and penetration flow. 

Most AFM studies of dissolution and corrosion processes have focused on technologically relevant materials such as aluminum alloys [25-27], copper [28], and steel [29-32]. For example, in situ electrochemical-AFM was used to investigate the corrosion activity of Al-6061 -T6 (alloyed with Fe) immersed in 0.6 mol dm NaCl, near iron-rich intermetallic (AI3 Fe) inclusion sites [26]. Inclusion sites are thought to be favorable areas for pit initiation and represent an important area of corrosion research. By marking the sample using a photoresist grid, it was... 

Encapsulation produces different effects on the mechanical properties of Al(Cu) and Al(CuSi) aluminum alloy films. The presence of the AI2CU nuclei in an aluminum matrix forms a galvanic corrosion couple and corrosion pitting can occur if there is an electrolyte, such as a photoresist, present. 

---