Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 153 ͑10͒ C677-C682 ͑2006͒
C677
0
013-4651/2006/153͑10͒/C677/6/$20.00 © The Electrochemical Society
The Termodynamic Model of Open-Circuit Potential for
Electroless Deposition of Ni on Silicon
z
Y. L. Chang, W. C. Ye, C. L. Ma, and C. M. Wang
Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
This investigation first proposed that open-circuit potential vs time ͑OCP-t͒ is a novel nonlinear potential step controlled by redox
reaction and nucleation. A novel thermodynamic model of OCP-t is obtained for electroless deposition of Ni on Pd-activated
p-type silicon͑100͒. Thermodynamic transient properties such as capacity of double layer C, surface charge density q, interfacial
tension ␥, and resistance of chemical reaction Rr are calculated. Results show that the variation of OCP is dependant on the
interfacial double layer. The breakdown and rearrangement of the double layer causes surface charge density step, which triggers
momentary nucleation of Ni on the substrate. Results also show that reductant pulses would be an effective way to speed nuclei
growth.
©
2006 The Electrochemical Society. ͓DOI: 10.1149/1.2221862͔ All rights reserved.
Manuscript submitted February 23, 2006; revised manuscript received April 26, 2006. Available electronically July 26, 2006.
Open-circuit potential vs time ͑OCP-t͒ has been proved a sensi-
tive and effective technique for sensing transient mixed potential at
the interface of solid/solution. It has been applied in monitoring the
Chemicals and materials.— Analytical reagent grade NiSO4
·6H O, NH OH ͑61%͒, HCl ͑36%͒, H O ͑31%͒, HF ͑40%͒, NH F,
2
4
2
2
4
and hydrazine hydrate N H ·H O ͑50%͒ were used. A solution of
2
4
2
1-3
0.05 mol L− NiSO4 was prepared by dissolving 1.3143 g
1
corrosion behavior5 of metal,
hydrogen absorption in Pd
4
6
electrodes, oxygen, carbon monoxide, adsorption in Pt/Pd elec-
NiSO ·H O in 100 mL redistilled water in a flask. Redistilled water
4
2
7
trode, and characterization of acrylic hydrogels. Our group also
reports its application in electroless deposition of Ag. However, the
was used throughout. Nitrogen was purged for solution deaeration.
A p-type crystalline silicon͑100͒ wafer with a resistivity of
10–20 ⍀ cm and a thickness of 525 ± 25 m ͑Beijing Youyan sili-
con villa semiconductor͒ was used.
8
methodology of OCP-t is still undeveloped. Few papers on the
mathematic model of OCP-t are reported. In this work, a novel
thermodynamic model of OCP-t is used to propose for electroless
deposition. We believe that it would be helpful to understand the
process of electroless deposition and develop further applications of
OCP-t.
Wafer treatment and preparation of Pd seeds.— The treatment
of silicon wafer was the same as in Ref. 8. The etched silicon wafer
−
1
is immersed in the solution of 0.005 mol L
+
PdCl2
0.06 mol L− hydrofluoric acid ͑HF͒ for 20 s to obtain the Pd
seeds.
1
Electroless deposition of metal films on silicon such as alumi-
9
9-11
12,13
14
15,16
17
num, copper,
silver,
gold, nickel,
NiP alloy, NiB
1
8
19
6-20
alloy, and CuNi alloy have been investigated. The nucleation and
Electrochemical measuring.— The silicon wafer with Pd seed
layer was fixed on the conductor of the cell ͑see Fig. 1͒. The mea-
1
reaction mechanisms
have also been studied. However, the tran-
sient information of electroless deposition is still blurry and needs to
find a sensitive technique to describe it. OCP-t is an ideal option for
this purpose because it can record transient potential of electroless
surement of OCP-t was done as follows: ͑i͒ stirred with 753.6 rad/s,
−1
͑
ii͒ 0.05 mol L 20 mL NiSO solution was added into the cell at
4
8
deposition effectively. Other transient techniques controlled by
outer circuits such as conventional potential step and current step
make it difficult to acquire actual information of electroless deposi-
tion.
During the electroless deposition process, there are six processes
occurring on the surface of samples, which include: ͑i͒ mass trans-
port of ions, ͑ii͒ migration of ions, ͑iii͒ charge or discharge of double
layer, ͑iv͒ adsorption or desorption of ions, ͑v͒ chemical reaction,
21
and ͑vi͒ nucleation on the substrate. In this experiment, the mass
transport and migration of ions can be ignored because of agitating
strongly. NiSO4 solution and NH NH2 reductant are selected be-
2
cause their reactions are clear. Amperometric i-t is used to acquire
transient current of electroless deposition. Ni film and Pd seed layer
are characterized by atomic force microscope ͑AFM͒ and differen-
tial pulse voltammetry ͑DPV͒.
Experimental
Instruments and software.— AFM ͑Explorer, Veeco Co., USA͒
in contact mode, electrochemical workstation ͑CHI660A, Shanghai,
China͒, and pH meter ͑PHS-3B, Shanghai, China͒ were used. A
homemade electrochemical cell of Teflon with three-electrode con-
figuration ͑shown as Fig. 1͒ was used. A p-Si͑100͒ wafer sample
2
served as the work electrode with a disk area of 12.56 mm . A
saturated calomel reference electrode ͑SCE͒ and a platinum auxil-
iary electrode were used. Data of OCP-t and i-t were fitted with
Origin 7.0 ͑OriginLab Co.͒. The drawing of the cell was done by
Autocad2006 ͑Autodesk Co.͒.
Figure 1. Configuration of electrochemical cell: ͑1͒ SCE, ͑2͒ stirrer, ͑3͒
platinum auxiliary electrode, ͑4͒ cell cover, ͑5͒ cell bulk, ͑6͒ screws, ͑7͒
bottom plate, ͑8͒ sample ͑silicon wafer as work electrode͒, ͑9͒ O-ring, ͑10͒
conductor, ͑11͒ pedestal, and ͑12͒ conduct pole.
z
E-mail: wangcm@lzu.edu.cn