Adhesive Metal Film Formation on Silicon by Electroless Deposition Using Catalytic Anchors

Abstract

Autocatalytic electroless deposition, which is a conventional method to metalize nonmetallic substrates, requires catalyzation of substrates before deposition. For silicon (Si) substrates, obtaining adhesive metal films with conventional catalyzation pretreatments is difficult. In this study, we develop a new method to produce adhesive metal films on Si substrates by an electroless process that consists of three steps: 1) electroless displacement deposition of metal nanoparticles; 2) Si nanopore formation by metal-particle-enhanced hydrofluoric acid etching; and 3) metal filling in nanopores and metal-film formation on the whole Si surface by autocatalytic electroless deposition. The metal nanorods in Si act as catalytic nanoanchors to promote autocatalytic electroless metal deposition and improve the adhesion of metal films on Si substrates.