US Patent 10230041 Methods of plating or coating ultrasound transducers

According to some embodiments, a method of depositing at least one electrode on a base member of an ultrasound transducer comprises at least partially etching a surface of the base member using a first etching agent, catalyzing the surface of the base member using a first catalyst, plating copper on the surface of the base member using an electroless plating process, inspecting the copper plated on the surface of the base member, at least partially etching a surface of the copper-plated surface using a second etching agent, catalyzing the copper-plated surface using a second catalyst, plating nickel on the copper-plated surface using an electroless plating process and depositing at least one layer of gold on the nickel-plated surface.