Electroless tin and tin-lead alloy plating baths

Abstract

Salt compositions and baths thereof useful in, and methods for, immersion plating of tin and tin-lead alloys which give greatly increased deposition rates and thicker coatings of better quality accomplished by incorporating into immersion plating tin bath compositions soluble plumbous salts in the amount of from 0.5 grams per liter calculated on the basis of elemental lead to the maximum amount soluble in the bath and a sulphur-containing complexing agent for the tin and lead such as thiourea or a thiourea-type derivative. Preferably the salt elements are stannous chloride, lead chloride, sodium hypophosphite (as a solubility enhancer) and with hydrochloric acid used as a agent for adjusting the pH in the resulting bath from 0.5 to 1.0.

I claim: 
     
       1. A salt composition, when diluted with 1 liter of water and sufficient hydrochloric acid to provide a solution having a pH of 0.5 to 1, is suitable for immersion plating .[.tin-lead alloys.]. .Iadd.essentially tin .Iaddend.at increased rates, the salt composition .[.comprising.]. .Iadd.consisting essentially of .Iaddend.the proportions of:   ______________________________________                                    
a.  hydrous stannous chloride                                             
                     from about 10 to about 150 g,                        
    (SnCl.sub.2 . 2H.sub.2 O)                                             
b.  lead chloride    from about 1 to about 12 g,                          
    (PbCl.sub.2)                                                          
c.  sodium hypophosphite                                                  
                     from about 10 to about 100 g,                        
    (NaH.sub.2 PO.sub.2 . H.sub.2 O)                                      
                     and                                                  
d.  thiourea         from about .[.15.]. .Iadd.40.Iaddend. about 100 g,   
    (NH.sub.2 . CS . NH.sub.2)                                            
______________________________________                                    
     
     
     
       2. A salt composition for immersion plating a tin-lead alloy, when diluted with 1 liter of water and sufficient hydrochloric acid to provide a solution having a pH of 0.5 to 1, said salt composition .[.comprising.]. .Iadd.consisting essentially of .Iaddend.the proportions of:   ______________________________________                                    
a.  hydrous stannous chloride                                             
                      from about 5 to about 100 g.                        
    (SnCl.sub.2 . 2H.sub.2 O)                                             
b.  lead chloride     from about 2 to 25 g.                               
    (PbCl.sub.2)                                                          
c.  sodium hypophosphite                                                  
                      from about 60 to 100 g.                             
    (NaH.sub.2 PO.sub.2 . H.sub.2 O)                                      
                      and                                                 
d.  thiourea          from about 100 about 150 g.                         
    (NH.sub.2 . CS . NH.sub.2)                                            
______________________________________                                    
     
     
     
       3. A composition according to claim 1 further comprising gelatin from about 0.1 g. 
     
     
       4. A composition according to claim 1 further comprising an alkylphenoxy polyethanol surfactant from about 0.1 g. 
     
     
       5. A composition according to claim 2 further comprising gelatin from about 0.1 g. 
     
     
       6. A composition according to claim 2 further comprising an alkylphenoxy polyethanol surfactant from about 0.1 g. .Iadd. 7. A salt composition as defined in claim 2 for the immersion plating of tin-lead alloys containing about 90-95% lead, wherein the composition contains about 15 to 25 grams of lead chloride, 6 to 10 grams of tin chloride, 60 to 100 grams of sodium hypophosphite, and 100 to 150 grams of thiourea..Iaddend..Iadd. 8. A salt composition as defined in claim 2 for the immersion plating of tin-lead alloys containing about 60% tin and 40% lead which contain 15 to 25 grams of tin chloride dihydrate, 8 to 12 grams of lead chloride, 60 to 100 grams of sodium hypophosphite, and 100 to 150 grams of thiourea. .Iaddend..Iadd. 9. A salt composition as defined in claim 2 for the immersion plating of tin-lead alloys containing about 10% lead and 90% tin, said composition containing about 6 grams of lead chloride, about 25 grams of tin chloride dihydrate, about 60 to 100 grams of sodium hypophosphite and about 100 to 150 grams of thiourea. .Iaddend.