Interfacial Characterizations of a Nickel-Phosphorus Layer Electrolessly Deposited on a Silane Compound-Modified Silicon Wafer Under Thermal Annealing

Front-side metallization of a Si wafer was carried out using electroless deposition of nickel-phosphorus (Ni-P) catalyzed by polyvinylpyrrolidone-capped palladium nanoclusters (PVP-nPd). A 3-[2-(2-Aminoethylamino)ethylamino] propyl-trimethoxysilane (ETAS) layer was covalently bonded on the Si surface as bridge linker to the Pd cores of PVP-nPd clusters for improving adhesion between the Ni-P layer and the Si surface. To investigate the effects of an interfacial ETAS layer on the Ni silicide formation at the Ni-P/Si contact, the Ni-P-coated Si samples were thermally annealed via rapid thermal annealing (RTA) from 500°C to 900°C for 2 min. To compare with the ETAS sample, the sputtered Ni layer on Si and electroless Ni-P layer on ion-Pd-catalyzed Si (both are standard processes) were also investigated. The microstructural characterizations for the Ni-P or Ni layer deposited on the Si wafer were performed using x-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Our results showed that the ETAS layer acted as a barrier to slow the atomic diffusion of Ni toward the Si side. Although the formation of Ni silicides required a higher annealing temperature, the adhesion strength and contact resistivity measurements of annealed Ni-P/Si contacts showed satisfactory results, which were essential to the device performance and reliability during thermal annealing.