SELECTIVE ELECTROLESS PLATING ON ELECTRON-BEAM SEEDED NANOSTRUCTURES

Selective electroless plating on electron beam deposited palladium seed catalyst has been used for the fabrication of metallic nanostructures on planar and nonplanar substrates. The palladium seed catalyst was deposited using an allycyclopentadienylpalladium organometallic complex as the precursor. Isolated and proximity palladium seed test structures with linewidths ranging from 50 to 250 nm, with thicknesses ranging from 15 to 100 nm and gap spacing between proximity structures ranging from- 50 to 250 nm were used to study the effect of the Pd seed size on metal deposition during the electroless plating process. The observed film growth behavior was apparently consistent with the theory of effect of seed size on the mass transport of dissolved oxygen to the catalytic sites during the plating process. For identical seed structures, differences in film growth behavior were also observed between plating of electroless copper and nickel. Metallic features with sizes as small as 100 nm in width and thickness had been obtained using selective electroless metal deposition on the electron beam seeded palladium catalysts. Proximity metallic structures with 100 nm line, gap, and thickness had also been obtained. This process had also been successfully applied to the fabrication of a magnetic force sensor for use in the atomic force microscope.