Low temperature direct electroless nickel plating on silicon wafer

Abstract

In the study of electroless nickel (EN) plating on n‐type (100) silicon wafers, a relatively low‐temperature alkaline plating process is developed. Further experiments show that simple ethanol pretreatment of the substrate is practicable for obtaining an EN layer with a good adhesion strength of about 9.8 to 14.7 MPa. Both sodium tungstate and sodium fluoride can be used to decrease the threshold plating temperature from near 80°C to 65°C. The phosphorous content of the as‐plated layer is slightly higher than 7 wt.%.

Key words:

• electroless nickel
• silicon wafer
• ethanol pretreatment
• adhesion strength

Notes

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