Patent ID: 8580100

Claim:
A method of forming a conductive metal contact on a substrate, comprising: selectively applying a seed layer on a portion of the surface, wherein this step comprises: applying a layer of polymeric particles in an array pattern on the substrate to cover a portion of the surface; depositing a mask layer onto the polymeric particles and substrate surface; removing the layer of polymeric particles thereby exposing the portion of the surface of the substrate according to the array pattern; applying a seed layer of nanoparticles onto the remaining portions of the mask layer and the exposed regions of the substrate surface; and removing the mask layer by dissolving the mask layer with an acidic solution, thereby removing a portion of the seed layer adherent to the mask layer but preserving another portion of the seed layer applied to the substrate according to the array pattern; and preferentially depositing an electrically conducting metal onto the selectively applied seed layer by electroplating whereby the nanoparticles serve as nucleation sites for metal deposition.