# Process 01. An open source 2 layer PCB process.

Released under a Creative Commons "CC-By" license, by Hydrogen Time

Documentation v1.1 (updated 2023-08-04)

** Warning: some of the reagents used in this process are harmful.

Although the preparation and use of the chemical solutions described here is
not difficult, experience in the safe handling of chemicals is required.
Read the material safety datasheet of every reagent and work in a fume hood. **


Figure 1: plated-through pads made with Process 01.

## Changelog
- v1.1:

Updated solutions long term storage information.

Switched to using acetone for stripping photoresist (step 24), as suggested by

@HennerZeller on youtube.

Added a note regarding sludge formation to step 11.

- v1.0:

Initial document version.

## Video documentation
The steps described here are also available in the form of youtube videos.

- Part 1: [Link]
- Part 2: [Link]

## Input
To make a PCB with process 01, you will need four masks printed on acetate or
similar transparent plastic film of your PCB artwork. Two will be the copper top
and bottom, and two for the soldermask top and bottom.

All masks need to be negatives, as the photosensitive materials we're using are
negative. A negative copper mask is one where copper traces are transparent, while
the space between traces is black. A negative soldermask mask is one where pads are
black, while the area to be covered by the photoresist is transparent.

You also need as input the hole placement locations on your board. If you're going
to drill the PCB with a CNC, then there is no problem, but if you are set up for
manual drilling you'll need to print another mask with the hole placement, likely
to use as a guide to leave marks on the copper with a center punch. As the PCB
needs to be drilled first, you can't use the already etched traces as reference for
where to drill your board. Also, any misalignment in a via or pad above your
annular ring size will leave that hole unprotected by the solder mask causing the
etchant to destroy the plated copper, so you need either be precise or use
oversized annular rings.

Process 01 uses standard double sided copper clad boards, not coated in any
photoresist, as the photoresist needs to be applied later in the process. I tried
this process with both standard thickness (1.6mm) and reduced thickness (0.8mm) PCB
material with no problem.
## Steps
1. Drill

Start with a blank PCB cut to size, and drill all the holes that you want
plated. Usually, there is no special need to leave holes unplated, so it is best to
drill all holes right at the beginning.

2. Sandpaper

The next step is a light sandpaper step to remove burrs left by the drilling
process. This is important as rough surfaces may damage the photoresist and lead to
via failure. Of course both sides need to be sandpapered. Wetting the sandpaper
with water helps. I use 320 grit sandpaper but this is not critical. Just don't use
too coarse sandpaper, and don't go as far as to remove the copper.

3. Water rinse

The next step is a simple water rinse, to remove dust particles. At this step
it is best to visually check the holes to make sure no air bubble is trapped in
them. Doing so at the first step also solves the issue for all subsequent steps, as
the liquid surface tension will make sure no air bubbles will form while
transfering the PCB from one bath to th next one. Obviously, an air bubble during
the activation or plating steps will prevent copper plating.

4. Clean

For the plated copper to adhere perfectly to the surface of the PCB, the board
needs to be cleaned from any dust and oils. Even if it looks perfectly clean to the
eye, a step of chemical cleaning is basically necessary. This is done with a
roughly 10% by weight solution of sulfuric acid, although the concentration of
sulfuric acid is not critical. The cleaning step requires heating at 65°C and
stirring for around 10 minutes.

5. Water rinse

The next step is again a water rinse to remove sulfuric acid residues.

6. Activate

Step 6 is the electroless activation of the PCB surface. It is done by dipping

the PCB in an acidic palladium chloride solution. Be careful as palladium salts are
toxic. This step requires the PCB to remain in the activation bath, with occasional
agitation, for around 5 minutes at ambient temperature.

7. Post-activate

The next step is the post-activation. The PCB is dipped in an acidic tin
chloride solution, with stirring, for five minutes at ambient temperature. The
purpose of this step is to reduce the palladium chloride to palladium metal,
leaving an invisible coat of palladium atoms on the PCB. These palladium atoms will
catalyze the decoposition of the next solution, the electroless plating one,
plating copper onto the PCB.

8. Water rinse

Again, we find a water rinse step, to prevent cross-contamination of the

solutions. Note that dragging free palladium in the plating bath can cause the
electroless copper plating solution to decompose also outside the PCB surface,
requiring it to be discarded.

9. Electroless Cu

The next step is the actual electroless plating. If the pH of the bath is
sufficiently basic, and the PCB has been correctly activated, hydrogen will start
bubbling from the PCB surface, possibly after an induction period of a couple of
minutes. What you are seeing, is formaldehyde in the solution reducing copper salts
to copper metal. As anticipated, the reduction only occurs in the presence of
palladium atoms, thus the entire solution does not decompose to copper metal and
the reduction only occurs at the PCB surface. Moreover, the process is also
autocatalytic, meaning that once the palladium atoms have been occluded by the
formed copper layer, the process does not stop, as the newly formed copper with
hydrogen bonded to the surface catalyzes the decomposition just as well as the
palladium, allowing the formation of a thick copper layer, without stopping at
just a few atoms thickness.
Electroless plating needs to be continued, with stirring at ambient
temperature, until the sides of the PCB appear fully plated. Time is between 20 to
40 minutes. Please note that formaldehyde is carcinogenic, so this step must be
performed inside a fumehood.

10. Water rinse

After electroless plating, the PCB requires another water rinse. The color of
the formed copper layer is usually a bit dull.

11. Electrolytic Cu

Electroless plating allowed us to deposit copper also on the non conductive

surface of the hole walls, and that's its strength. However, its weakness is that
it's rather slow. So, once a thick enough layer has been deposited to carry an
electrical current, we can boost the copper thickness with electroplating.
The electroplating bath is an acidic solution of copper sulfate. For
electroplating, we need to attach two copper electrodes to the sides of the beaker,
connected to the positive of a constant current power supply. The negative, will be
connected to the PCB we are plating. The plating solution is heated at 60°C and
stirred, and plating is continued at a current of 25mA/cm^2 for 20 minutes.
During the plating some copper sludge may detach from the electrodes and
deposit on the PCB. To prevent this, it is possible to enclose the anodes in bag of
a porous material to contain the sludge, even though this was not tested.
Use low resistance connections to both electrodes. In my first tests I used the
common cheap alligator clips that you can find online, but the wire resistance was
so high that resulted in different potential at the two electrodes. When I switched
to making my own alligator clips with 0.75mm^2 copper wire, sludge formation was
considerably reduced. Step 13 is still needed to get good photoresist adhesion,
though.
When the PCB is removed from the beaker, it should have the characteristic
salmon orange color of freshly electroplated copper.

12. Water rinse

The next step is, as usual, another water rinse.

13. Sandpaper

Step 13 is a light sandpaper step, used to remove the copper sludge particles
that have been deposited on the PCB during the electrolytic plating.
This step can be omitted if sludge containment is used, and the resulting
surface finish is proven to be good enough for photoresist adhesion. Use gloves to
keep the PCB clean from fingerprints and other contaminants.

14. Water rinse

15. Acetone rinse

An acetone rinse helps clean the PCB and ensures a quick drying at low hotplate
temperatures, minimizing the formation of copper oxide. As anticipated, plating the
copper on the hole walls is useless unless it can be protected from the etchant,
and for this, good photoresist adhesion is fundamental.

16. Dry

Step 16 is to let the PCB dry on a warm 60°C hotplate.

It should take no more than a couple of minutes.

17. Apply photoresist

The next step consists in applying the photoresist to both sides of the PCB.
The photoresist used can be easily found on ebay (look for the trade name
"Riston"), and it is a gelled negative photoresist, resembling sheets of double
sided tape, as the actual photresist is sticky and sandwitched between two layers
of thin protective plastic.
As this photoresist is very sensitive to light, around 5 times more than the
positive photoresist used in single sided presensitized boards, it is best to avoid
exposure to white light. A 1 Watt yellow LED can be used to make an improvised
darkroom.
The rolled-up photoresist is cut to size with a pair of scissors, one of the
two protective plastic layers is peeled away with the help of some scotch tape, and
the photoresist is applied on the PCB. After the photoresist has been applied on
both sides of the PCB, it needs to be hot rolled using a modified document
laminator, and then immersed in cold water to cool it immediately.

18. Expose + Polymerize

The mask is placed on a glass plate ink side up, a few drops of water help it
stick to the glass just enough. The PCB is then placed on the mask and carefully
aligned so that all holes line up with the mask. Exposure is done with ultraviolet
light.
The exposure time depends on the power of your UV light, so you'll need to
experiment. Usually, there is a sweet spot that gives the best results, and
deviating from it either side will not only require too short or long development
times but will usually cause adhesion problems and traces dissolving away.
As a reference, With my UV set-up, exposure lasts only 50 seconds, while
ordinary positive presensitized boards take 4 minutes, so if you've developed
negative photoresist before, divide that time by 5 as first guess. After the
exposure, it is important to let the photoresist polymerize by placing it on a 60°C
hotplate for 5 minutes in the dark or under yellow light, as negative photoresist
works by hardening upon exposure to UV. Missing this step will likely leave you
with traces washing away.

19. Develop

The developer is usually prepared just before use. This step is quick enough
that it can be performed with lights turned on. The last protective plastic foil is
removed from both sides, and the PCB is dipped in the developer. Note that, as the
photoresist is gelled, it does not wash away, and gentle scrubbing with a sponge is
needed to remove it.
20. Water rinse

21. Dry + visual check

Dry the board with some tissue paper. It needs to be just dry enough for visual
inspection. Check, possibly with a microscope that all vias and pads are covered by
the photoresist. In case of failure in critical vias or pads, it is best to strip
the photoresist immediately and reapply it.

22. Etch

The etching step which will reveal if the PCB will be a success or a failure.
This process is compatible with most PCB etchants. I use copper chloride as it can
be regenerated, but ferric chloride should work just as well.

23. Water rinse

The PCB is visually inspected from time to time, and when the etching is
complete, yet another water rinse follows.

24. Strip photoresist

The photoresist can be stripped with either acetone or a hot concentrated

sodium hydroxide solution. It is recommended to use acetone, not only because it is
less dangerous than the sodium hydroxide solution, but also because it is faster
and does not oxidize the copper surface.

25. Water rinse

26. Dry

The board can be dried on a hotplate. The adhesion of the soldermask is less
critical than the photoresist, as it will not have to survive etching.

27. Apply soldermask

28. Expose + Polymerize
29. Develop
30. Water rinse

Steps 27 to 30 are the same as 17 to 20, only the soldermask is applied instead
of the photoresist. Also the soldermask can be found on Ebay (trade name:
"Dynamask"). The soldermask material I use is a negative one, and it is very
similar to the negative photoresist, only the color differs.

Note that soldermask is, obviously, optional. You can tin plate the board if
you prefer, or even leave the copper exposed, even though in this case it will
oxidize quicly.

31. Cure soldermask

The soldermask needs to be UV cured for 30 minutes per side.

## Main Solutions

- Step 4: Cleaning solution.

Around 10% by weight sulfuric acid. Concentration not critical. Deionized
water preferred. You can prepare this solution by dissolving 13mL of
 concentrated sulfuric in 225mL of deionized water.
Stable, can be stored indefinitely and reused many times. So far, two years
later the original solution still works.

- Step 6: Palladium chloride activator.

Instructions for preparing 50mL

- 40mL deionized water
- 0.02g PdCl₂
- 2.25g SnCl₂·2H₂O
- 7.75g NaCl
- 2.5mL 34% HCl
- adjust the volume by adding deionized water till 50mL

Stir until every added reagent dissolves before adding the next one.

Solution lasted between one and two years in a capped container. When the
solution goes bad it changes color from dark brown to transparent yellow. Trying to
make a PCB with the yellow solution coats the copper with a dark layer that is not
catalytic for the eletroless copper solution and is very hard to remove, requiring
to restart from scratch with a new board.


- Step 7: Post-activator.

Instructions for preparing 200mL

- 182mL deionized water
- 18mL of 34% HCl
- 4g SnCl₂·2H₂O

Originally thought to decompose in just a few weeks, the solution surprisingly

lasted between one and two years in a capped container. A white deposit of
Sn⁴⁺ salts progressively form, but this is not by itself an indication
that the solution is spent, as there may be still Sn²⁺ in solution. It
is suggested after long term storage to try using the solution. If no hydrogen
formation occurs at step 9 even after an attempt to replenish step 9 solution with
formaldehyde, it is possible to restart from step 5 with a fresh post-activator
without having to throw away the PCB.

- Step 9: Electroless copper.

Instructions for preparing 200mL

- 2.52g copper sulfate pentahydrate
- around 150mL deionized water
- 5.8g disodium EDTA
- 2g NaOH
- 4 drops of Triton-X 100, which is a surfactant used as brightener
- 1.6mL of 37% formaldehyde
- adjust the volume by adding deionized water till 200mL

Stir until every added reagent dissolves before adding the next one, except
the EDTA which only fully dissolves after the NaOH is added.

The solution can be reused many times if acidified after use

with H₂SO₄, basified with NaOH again before the next
use, and stored in a capped container. So far, two years later the original
solution still works although formaldehyde addition is sometimes needed.
 - If taken from storage and is no longer acidic, it has gone bad.
- If taken from storage and it does not work despite enough NaOH has been
added to bring pH to strongly basic, try adding more HCHO.

- Step 11: Electrolytic copper.

Instructions for preparing 200mL

- 150mL deionized water
- 12g (around 6.5mL) of concentrated sulfuric acid
- 40g copper sulfate pentahydrate
- 0.2g polyethylene glycol, used as brightener
- 2 drops of copper chloride PCB etchant
- adjust the volume by adding deionized water till 200mL

Stir until every added reagent dissolves before adding the next one.

Stable, can be stored indefinitely and reused many times. So far, two years
later the original solution still works with no need to replenish its components.

- Step 15: Plain acetone.

Just a few mL poured on PCB, no need to immerse the entire PCB in an acetone
bath.

One time use only.

- Step 19: Negative photoresist etchant.

3g K₂CO₃ in 100mL water. Tap water can be used.

One time use only.

- Step 22: See NurdRage video on PCB etchants.

[Link]

- Step 24: Negative photoresist stripping solution.

It is recommended to use plain acetone for stripping. Just a few mL poured on

PCB, no need to immerse the entire PCB in an acetone
bath.
Alternatively if for some reason sodium hydroxide is preferred, use 2 spoons of
NaOH in 100mL water. Concentration not critical. Tap water can be used.

One time use only.

## Reagents table

| 4. | 6. | 7. | 9. | 11. | 15. | 19./29. | 22. | 24. | |

|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---: |:---:|:---:|--- |
| X | | | X | X | | | | |
H₂SO₄|
| | X | X | | | | | X | | HCl |
| | X | | | | | | | | PdCl₂|
| | X | X | | | | | | |
SnCl₂·2H₂O|
| | X | | | | | | | | NaCl |
| | | | X | X | | | | |
CuSO₄·5H₂O|
| | | | X | | | | | | NaEDTA |
| | | | X | | | | | (X) | NaOH |
| | | | X | | | | | | Triton-X100 |
| | | | X | | | | | | 37% HCHO |
| | | | | X | | | | | PEG |
| | | | | X | | | X | | CuCl₂|
| | | | | | X | | | X | Acetone |
| | | | | | | X | | |
K₂CO₃|
| | | | | | | | X | |
H₂O₂|
| X | X | X | X | X | | | | | Deionized water |
| | | | | | | X | X | (X) | Tap water |