Electroless Ni plating is widely used for its properties such as wear resistance, uniform coating and excellent brazing and solderability. In electronic and mechatronic applications, the chemical composition of the Ni layer and its surface quality still remains elusive and improvisation of Ni layer surface quality is vital. This research work investigates the surface properties of Ni films subjected to Ar-H₂ RF plasma treatment. Plasma treatment parameters are defined by utilizing D-Optimal design of experiments. A precise mapping of the evolution of Ni surface global chemical composition is obtained using an XPS. Principal component analysis on XPS mapping coupled with 3D ToF-SIMS chemical cartography enables precise identification of the different oxidation states of nickel and their distribution in the plasma-treated nickel samples. The nickel surface wettability is then determined using the classical sessile drop technique. The findings of the study enable to define the plasma optimal power and accomplish the best compromise between the positive effects of the surface decontamination and the negative effects of the surface recontamination. The optimized plasma treatment succeeds to modify the surface nature of the nickel from hydrophobic to strongly hydrophilic. It demonstrates that the Ar-H₂ plasma treatment is a very efficient process to increase the Ni surface wettability and thereby to improve the electronic and mechatronic assembly processes.

化学镀镍因其性能如耐磨性，均匀涂层以及出色的钎焊和可焊性而被广泛使用。在电子和机电一体化应用中，镍层的化学成分及其表面质量仍然难以捉摸，而改善镍层的表面质量至关重要。这项研究工作研究了受Ar-H ₂腐蚀的Ni膜的表面性能射频等离子体处理。血浆处理参数通过利用D-Optimal实验设计来定义。使用XPS获得了Ni表面整体化学成分演变的精确映射。XPS映射的主成分分析与3D ToF-SIMS化学制图相结合，可以精确识别镍的不同氧化态及其在经过等离子体处理的镍样品中的分布。然后使用经典的无滴法测定镍的表面润湿性。该研究的发现能够确定等离子体的最佳功率，并在表面净化的正面影响与表面净化的负面影响之间达成最佳折衷。优化的等离子体处理成功地将镍的表面性质从疏水性改变为强亲水性。证明了Ar-H₂等离子体处理是一种非常有效的过程，可以提高Ni表面的润湿性，从而改善电子和机电一体化的过程。