Spring/Summer 1995

Electrodeposition of Photoresists for Printed Wrighting Board Application

The electro-deposition ( ED) of organic coatings is over 30 years old. Development initiated during the 19605, brought this technology into practical applka· lions. Now ED is a state of the art coating process, which finds use in various industries. ED is used to apply protective coatings to car bodies, with substantially better results than previous methods. In other industries, cost savings are achieved through improved unifonnity of the surface coating. A more recent refinement of this tedmology is used to apply photoresist for manufacture of PWB. This development was introduced during the 1980's and resulted in the practical use of electrophoretic depositable photoresists as materials used for image transfer in the Printed Wiring Boards (PWB) industry. In the following paper, the various aspects of the available systems will be described; and questions will be answered relating to process integration, advantages over existing photoresist technologies, environmental compatibility, and costs.