Another aspect of the difference between immersion and electroless plating it
the ease of use.

Since electroless has the reducing agent in solution, in theory, it can plate
on virtually anything, including dust, particles of pcb, tank walls, random
thoughts of the wrong content, etc.

Immersion plating is driven by the substrate, if there is no substrate of the
appropriate type present, it does not plate, period.   This implies that the
bath is very stable, and also self limiting.  Of course the self limiting
aspect is a double edged sword, and can be both an advantage, and a
disadvantage, depending on the thickness of plating required.

In the case of Palladium, it also means that the immersion plating is more
dense, and less porous.

If you have ever used an immersion Tin bath, think of how it worked compared
to electroless Copper, and you will get a good idea of the salient
differences in the way they work.

Rudy Sedlak
RD Chemical Company

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