NICKEL PLATING ON POROUS SILICON

The authors report preliminary results which show that electrodeposition is an appropriate method for metallization of the porous silicon volume. It is shown that work demonstrates that metallization of the inner structure of porous silicon can be achieved by an electrochemical deposition method. The metal concentration is found uniform in depth for thin porous layers (5000A thick), which may present a technological interest, but a large concentration gradient is obtained for thick porous layers (10 mu m thick). A detailed study of the concentration profiles as a function of the cathodic current density and of the layer thickness, with porous structures presenting different pore sizes, is now necessary for getting a better understanding of the deposition mechanism in porous silicon.