Effect of hydrofluoric acid etching on electroless copper plating on silicon wafer

• Main Authors: Fadil, Nor Akmal, Mior Shahidin, Shazatul Akmaliah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: QC Physics
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/62148/; http://www.icamt.net/

Metallic coating such as copper film can be easily deposited on the semiconductor materials like silicon wafer substrate without prior surface pre-treatment. However, the adhesion of the copper film was very weak and easily peels off. In this study, the effect of etching in hydrofluoric acid solution as surface pre-treatment prior electroless plating on silicon wafer was studied. The etching time in hydrofluoric acid was varied at 1, 3 and 5 minutes in order to investigate the bonding behavior of coating layer. The surface morphology of electroless plated samples was observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and the coating thickness was measured by optical microscopy. The results showed that by applying etching process, the bonding between the copper film and the substrate has been improved.