Uniformity study of nickel thin-film microstructure deposited by electroplating

Abstract

The thickness uniformity and the cross-sectional profiles of electroplated individual nickel microstructures were investigated in given electroplating conditions. The main factors influencing the thickness uniformity of microstructures were discussed. An effective method to overcome the burning problem by increasing the sacrifice seed layer structure is proposed. It is shown that the thickness uniformity and the cross-sectional profiles of the microstructures can be controlled by changing the process conditions. The current crowding observed in patterned specimens is responsible for the saddle shape profile of individual microstructures, while the combination of the current crowding and the cathodic polarizability are believed to be responsible for the abnormal cap-like profile of individual microstructures. A uniform thickness distribution and microstructures with flat profiles were obtained at optimal plating conditions of 8.05 mA/cm 2 and 20°C.

Ultrasound-assisted electrodeposition of nickel: Effect of ultrasonic power on the characteristics of thin coatings

“…In the last 20 years, the electrodeposition of thin Ni films has received a renewed attention from the research community [5,6]. Recent studies have been focused on the addition of different additives such as saccharin [7,8] and the use of novel plating methods such as pulse plating [9,10] in order to produce novel functional Ni coatings for different applications.…”

Nickel Film Deposition with Varying RF Power for the Reduction of Contact Resistance in NiSi

“…To achieve this, the quality and stability of the Ni film are also very important. Ni films can be deposited by various methods such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), sputtering, MBE, thermal evaporation, pulsed laser deposition, electroplating [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], etc. Among these techniques, vapor deposition through conventional sputtering still remains the most widely used process for metal film deposition.…”

Numerical Analysis and Experimental Study on Fabrication of High Aspect Ratio Tapered Ultrafine Holes by Over-Growth Electroforming Process

“…Therefore, electroforming has been developed to be one of preferred techniques to create high-quality ultrafine hole products. For manufacturing these apertures, there are two electroforming modes: thick resist through-mask electroforming [7][8][9] and over-growth electroforming [10,11]. The thick resist through-mask electroforming technique produces perforated components by inversely duplicating the geometric shape of the patterned, insulating resist molds, which are finally removed.…”