Sam,

I would suggest that you have some type of resist lockin that becomes 
worse where the tape is applying more pressure to the resist during 
printing, hence the "frame" appearance.  I would also check the 
surface topography of whatever you are laminating over.  Is it  more 
mat or porous than normal.  Also check that a lamination roller 
has"nt gone whacky. The fact that you do not have Cu/Cu adhesion 
problems would probably rule out  dev/preclean/microetch problems but 
check all these as well especially the rinses after dev, 
preclean and microetch.  Surface residue problems will typically 
first show up on large ground areas, maybe due to the lower current 
densities during the first few seconds of the plating cycle.  If the 
copper/surface film doesn't"t plate the first few seconds you can hang 
it up.  
Electrical contact problems could also only show up at the higher 
currents.  Check your cell voltage it should not be much over 1.5 
volts . If it is, load some dummys and start looking for a hot spot.
  
If you don't find the problem near the front end try pulling samples 
of all your solutions starting with the developer rinse and run hull 
cell coupons sheared out of your normal material after developing off 
an unexposed panel.  Watch the coupons carefully  at each step 
especially during plate initialization.  If you see anything funny 
substitute a new solution at that point and see if it goes away. 
Everyone loves a mystery .  Good luck and let us know what you find.
Robert E. Welch
Process Specialist
Email: [log in to unmask]
Modem: 804-239-9120
Fax:   804-237-3048

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