Low Temperature and Low Phosphorus Electroless Nickel Plating

Direct electroless nickel plating on n-Si(100) wafers in alkaline solutions was performed without any activation procedure in advance. The effect of pH and temperature on the size of deposited metal particles was examined. Moreover, The phosphorus contents of deposits were also analyzed by the energy disperse spectroscopy. The results indicated that the optimal reaction temperature was 60°C and the optimal pH value was 10.0 with a plating rate of about 3.0 µm/hr and the phosphorus content of about 3.6 wt%.