Electroless-deposited Ag-W films for microelectronics applications

A. Inberg, Y. Shacham-Diamand, E. Rabinovich, G. Golan, N. Croitoru

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Thin Ag-W films, with a tungsten concentration of up to 3.2 at.% and a thickness in the range 20-300 nm, were directly deposited on Si(100) substrate by the electroless (auto-catalytic) method. The deposition characteristics and the thin film electrical and physical properties were studied as a function of the bath composition. The role of tungsten in the silver matrix was studied via measurements of the film microhardness and thermal stability as a function of the thin film composition. Ag-W films thicker than 200 nm had a shiny appearance with good reflectivity and their specific electrical resistivity was 2 μΩ cm. The specific resistivity of films increased with decreasing thickness. Exposure of electroless silver films to air at 200°C for a few h causes them to tarnish severely and their sheet resistance to significantly increase, while similar Ag-W films were not affected under the same conditions. Therefore, we assume that silver-tungsten films can be used for applications that require reliable conducting thin films, such as packaging and interconnects for microelectronics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)213-218
Number of pages6
JournalThin Solid Films
Volume389
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jun 2001
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Electroless deposition
  • Silver
  • Thin film
  • Tungsten

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