New Surface-Activation-Process for Electroless Deposition of Adhesive Metal (Ni, Cu) Films on Si Substrates

Abstract

We report a new surface-activation process for direct electroless deposition of adhesive metal films on silicon (Si) substrates. This process, which electrolessly forms metal nanorods in Si, consists of three steps: Step 1) displacement deposition of metal nanoparticles; Step 2) metal-particle-assisted hydrofluoric acid etching for catalytic nanopore formation; and Step 3) autocatalytic electroless deposition of metal film on the Si surface. In this study, our new surface-activation process is successfully applied not only to nickel and cobalt but also to adhesive copper film deposition on Si substrates.