Theoretical Verification of Film Forming in Local Electroplating Process with Electrolyte Suction Tool

Abstract

Electroplating has many applications, including surface hardening and metal thin film manufacturing. In conventional electroplating, the entire workpiece is immersed in the plating solution. Since the whole surface in contact with the solution is plated, a masking operation to remove the unnecessary plating film is required. This is especially applicable to local plating in the case of ornament plating, surface hardening method, among others. However, these additional processes result in substantial increase in processing time and cost. Earlier, we achieved maskless local electroplating with a smooth surface using a suction tool, in which the electrolyte was retrieved by a suction pump through a suction hole. Even so, formation of film on electroplating is yet to be verified by simulations. Herein, we performed experiments and simulations of the local electroplating by varying the processing time before comparing the results. Finally, the validity of the film forming was examined by discussing the results.