Electroless Ni‐P Deposition on Silicon with Pd Activation

The electroless Ni‐P deposition on silicon with Pd activation was investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and electron microscopy. An "RBS double‐layer" structure with different composition was simulated to evaluate the composition profiles of the films produced by electroless deposition with Pd activation. During deposition on Si with Pd activation, the initially formed alloy was found to contain approximately two times more P than that formed after long deposition times. To explain the distribution of P in alloy suggested that the catalytic properties of the surface change during the deposition process. The thickness of the layer also changes during deposition. It was observed that the maximum thickness of layer ranges from 2400 to 2500 Å. Contact hole to silicon device with a 0.5 μm depth p‐n junctions and a 1.5 μm nominal sizes were filled by after Pd activation. The contact resistivity on n‐type silicon ( and ) was in the 10 −8 Ω · cm 2 range after a 450°C nitrogen annealing cycle for 30 min.