Ion implantation for nucleation of electroless Ni films on Si

Abstract

Our previous work has recently established ion implantation as a viable technique to seed electroless Cu films on several substrates. In this work we employ this technique for selective nucleation of electroless Ni films on Si substrates. Pd ions are implanted into <100> Si using a metal vapour vacuum arc (MEVVA) ion implanter. The implantation dose is varied between 7E14 and 3.6E16 ions cm -2. The substrates and plated films are studied with Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and channelling (RBS-C), SEM, EDX, profilometery and the scotch tape test (STT). A threshold dose required for nucleation of electroless Ni plating has been determined. Plated films, several microns thick, with good adhesion have been made using this technique. The effect of implantation parameters such as ion energy, ion dose and of plating conditions on the growth kinetics and morphology of the plated films has been investigated. A test structure in the shape of a coil has been fabricated using this technique.