Abstract
The effect of the crystal structure of various nickel substrates on the orientation of plated gold films was studied. The gold plating was conducted in a solution primarily composed of gold potassium cyanide at 338K and pH=6.5 with a current density of 5mA/cm2. It was found that the crystal structure of the nickel substrate influenced the orientation of the gold film as follows: (i) for films thinner than 0.2μm, there was epitaxial growth of gold film on the nickel substrate as (111)Au||(111)Ni, (200)Au||(200)Ni and (220)Au||(220)Ni: (ii) for films between 0.2 and 3μm, there was growth of the (110) plane of gold on the nickel substrates; and (iii) for films thicker than 3μm, the growth plane orientations were (111)>(220)>(200), which is considered the characteristics of gold plating under these condition.
