TITLE:
Electrodeposition of Gold to Conformally Fill High-Aspect-Ratio Nanometric Silicon Grating Trenches: A Comparison of Pulsed and Direct Current Protocols
AUTHORS:
Sami Znati, Nicholas Chedid, Houxun Miao, Lei Chen, Eric E. Bennett, Han Wen
KEYWORDS:
Pulsed Electroplating, Gold Electroplating, High Aspect Ratio Trenches, Gold Electrodepostion, Di-rect Current Electrodeposition, Pulsed vs. Direct Current Electroplating, Atomic Layer Deposition Platinum Seed Layer, Silicon Trench Gratings, Trench Filling, Grating Filling, ALD Adhesive Layer
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Surface Engineered Materials and Advanced Technology,
Vol.5 No.4,
October
16,
2015
ABSTRACT: Filling high-aspect-ratio trenches with gold is a frequent requirement in the fabrication of X-ray optics as well as micro-electronic components and other fabrication processes. Conformal electrodeposition of gold in sub-micron-width silicon trenches with an aspect ratio greater than 35 over a grating area of several square centimeters is challenging and has not been described in the literature previously. A comparison of pulsed plating and constant current plating led to a gold electroplating protocol that reliably filled trenches for such structures.