Study of wetters in nickel electroforming of 3D microstructures

The effect of the presence of a wetter upon nickel electroforming of three-dimensional (3D) microstructure under various aspect ratios and applied current densities was investigated. Owing to improved wetting capacity, the height-to-width aspect ratio of the nickel microstructure and the applied current density were favorably enhanced with the presence of soluble dialkyl esters of sodium sulfosuccinic acid in the electrolyte. A nickel microstructure with aspect ratio 30 (200 μm deep with 7 μm width) was obtained at 16 A dm−2. The internal stress and hardness of the nickel deposit were slightly decreased by the presence of these wetters.