Impurities in chromium deposits produced by electroplating and physical vapor deposition

摘要

Impurity contents in electrodeposited (hexavalent and trivalent) chromium deposits and physically vapor deposited (thermal evaporation, electron beam evaporation and rf-sputtering) were compared. Oxygen is the key impurity obtained in electrodeposited films but it can be minimized in hexavalent plating solutions by operating at high temperature, e. g., 85 C. Electrodeposits produced in trivalent chromium plating solutions and physically vapor deposited films have much higher oxygen contents than electrodeposits produced in hexavalent chromium solutions operated at temperatures around 85 C. Depending on the target material used for physically vapor deposited films, these films can also have high amounts of other impurities.