Abstract
Gas bubble formation and evolution at the plating surface for electroless copper produces a micro convection condition which influences the mass transfer rate. The interfacial concentrations of the reactant species in the absence of forced convection are computed from this model and are found to be dependent on the plating rate and the bulk concentrations, diffusivities, and reaction stoichiometry. Analyses of published rate studies show that the interfacial concentrations of cupric ions were less than the bulk values and that the apparent reaction order based on the interfacial concentration was approximately constant. Two different correlations for superposed micro and macroconvection were found to be indistinguishable and consistent with the microconvection model when applied to published plating rate data at rotating cylinders.