• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.267-272
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• 2000

Electroplating Cu was deposited on Si(100) wafer after seed Cu was deposited by sputtering first. TaN was deposited as a diffusion barrier before depositing the seed Cu. Electroplating Cu thin films show highly (111)-oriented microstructure for both before and after annealing at $450^{\circ}C$ for 30min and no copper silicide was detected in the same samples, which indicates that TaN barrier layer blocks well the Cu diffusion into silicon substrate. After annealing the electroplating Cu film up to $450^{\circ}C$, the Cu film became columnar from non-columnar, its grain size became larger about two times, and also defects density of stacking faults, twins and dislocations decreased greatly. Thus the heat treatment will improve significantly electromigration property caused by the grain boundary in the Cu thin films.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.802-809
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• 2001

Electroplating is an attractive alternative deposition method for copper with the need for a conformal and conductive seed layer In addition, the Cu seed layer should be highly pure so as not to compromise the effective resistivity of the filled copper interconnect structure. This seed layer requires low electrical resistivity, low levels of impurities, smooth interface, good adhesion to the barrier metal and low thickness concurrent with coherence for ensuring void-free fill. The electrical conductivity of the surface plays an important role in formation of initial Cu nuclei, Cu nucleation is much easier on the substrate with higher electrical conductivities. It is also known that the nucleation processes of Cu are very sensitive to surface condition. In this study, copper seed layers deposited by magnetron sputtering onto a tantalum nitride barrier layer were used for electroplating copper in the forward pulsed mode. Prior to electroplating a copper film, the Cu seed layer was cleaned by plasma H$_2$ and $N_2$. In the plasma treatment exposure tome was varied from 1 to 20 min and plasma power from 20 to 140W. Effects of plasma pretreatment to Cu seed/Tantalum nitride (TaN)/borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) samples on electroplating of copper (Cu) films were investigated.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.218-220
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• 2006

Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder is widely used as micro-joining materials of flip chip package(FCP) because of the fact that it causes less dissolution and has good thermal fatigue property. However, compared with ternary electroplating in the manufacturing process, binary electroplating is still used in industrial field because of easy to make plating solution and composition control. The objective of this research is to fabricate Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumping having accurate composition. The ternary Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumping could be made on a Cu pad by sequent binary electroplating of Sn-Cu and Sn-Ag. Composition of the solder was estimated by EDS and ICP-OES. The thickness of the bump was measured using SEM and the microstructure of intermetallic-compounds(IMCs) was observed by SEM and EDS. From the results, contents of Ag and CU found to be at $2.7{\pm}0.3wt%\;and\;0.4{\pm}0.1wt%$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2002

Sn was selected as an alloying element of Cu. The Cu-Sn thin layers were deposited on the Si substrates by the electroplating method and their properties were studied. By rapidly thermal annealing(RTA) up to 40$0^{\circ}C$ after electroplating, sheet resistance decreased and adhesion strength increased, but that trend was reversed at the 50$0^{\circ}C$ RTA. Cu-Sn particles grew dense and the surface was uniform up to 40$0^{\circ}C$, but at 50$0^{\circ}C$, empty area was introduced and the surface became rough owing to oxidation and particle coarsening and agglomeration. Deposited layer contained significant amount of Si, while pure Cu-Sn layer with the composition ratio of 90:10 was present only on the top surface. However, no significant change in the Cu composition within alloy layers occured by the RTA regardless of its temperature. This indicates that the Cu diffusion into the Si was suppressed by the presence of Sn.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.23-29
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• 2000

We demonstrate the fabrication method of high-density and high-quality solder bump solving a copper (Cu) cross-contamination in Si-LSI laboratory. The Cu cross-contamination is solved by separating solder-bump process by two steps. Former is via-formation process excluding Cu/Ti under ball metallurgy (UBM) layer sputtering in Si-LSI laboratory. Latter is electroplating process including Ti-adhesion and Cu-seed layers sputtering out of Si-LSI laboratory. Thick photoresist (PR) is achieved by a multiple coating method. After TiW/Al-electrode sputtering for electroplating and via formation in Si-LSI laboratory, Cu/Ti UBM layer is sputtered on sample. The Cu-seed layer on the PR is etched during Cu-electroplating with low-electroplating rate due to a difference in resistance of UBM layer between via bottom and PR. Therefore Cu-buffer layer can be electroplated selectively at the via bottom. After etching the Ti-adhesion layer on the PR, Sn/Pb solder layer with a composition of 60/40 is electroplated using a tin-lead electroplating bath with a metal stoichiometry of 60/40 (weight percent ratio). Scanning electron microscope image shows that the fabricated solder bump is high-uniformity and high-quality as well as symmetric mushroom shape. The solder bumps with even 40/60 $\mu\textrm{m}$ in diameter/pitch do not touch during electroplating and reflow procedures. The solder-bump process of high-uniformity and high-density with the Cu cross-contamination free in Si-LSI laboratory will be effective for electronic microwave application.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.785-791
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• 2023

Copper sulfide (Cu_xS) has been extensively utilized as a counter electrode (CE) material for quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs) due to its exceptional catalytic activity for polysulfide electrolytes. The typical fabrication method of Cu₂S CEs based on brass substrate is dangerous, involving the use of a highly concentrated hydrochloric acid solution in a relatively high temperature. In contrast, electroplating presents a safer alternative by employing a less acidic solution at a room temperature. In addition, the electroplating method increases the probability of obtaining CEs of consistent quality compared to the brass method. In this study, the optimized electroplating cycle for CuS CEs in QDSCs has been studied for the highly efficient photovoltaic performances. The QDSCs, featuring electroplated CuS CEs, achieved an impressive efficiency of 7.18%, surpassing the conventional method employing brass CEs, which yielded an efficiency of 6.62%.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.194-199
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• 2003

Polarization measurements were peformed to investigate the electrochemical behavior of copper ions and limiting current density in waste rinse water from copper electroplating processes. A newly designed cyclone type electrolyzer was tested to recover the copper powder. Synthetic solutions were prepared using analytical grade $CuSO_4$ to the desired waste water concentration and pH was adjusted with $H_2$$SO_4$. Electrowinning was peformed at room temperature and the solution was cycled with a pump. Results showed that more than 99 percent of Cu was recovered and the size of the recovered Cu powder ranges from 0.1 - $0.5\mu\textrm{m}$. The chemical composition of the Cu powder mainly consists of $Cu_2$O and Cu and can be easily reduced to pure Cu powder.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 2012

In this study, a novel Cu composite sheet with embedded high electric conduction path was developed as another alternative for the interconnect materials possessing high electrical conductivity as well as high strength. The Cu composite sheet was fabricated by forming Ag conduction paths not within the interior but on the surface of a high strength Cu substrate by damascene electroplating process. As a result, the electrical conductivity increased by 40% thanks to mesh type Ag conduction paths, while the ultimate tensile strength decreased by 20%. The interfacial fracture resistance of Cu composite sheet prepared by damascene electroplating increased by above 50 times compared to Cu composite sheet by conventional electroplating. For feasibility test for practical application, a leadframe for LED module was manufactured by a progressive blanking and piercing processes, and the blanked surface profile was evaluated as a function of the volume fraction of Ag conduction paths. As Ag conduction path became finer, pressing formability improved.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.235-237
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• 2007

In this paper, fabrication of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumping having accurate composition and behavior of intermetallic compounds(IMCs) growth at interface between Sn-Ag-Cu bumps and Cu substrate were studied. The ternary alloy of the Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder was made by two binary(Sn-Cu, Sn-Ag) electroplating on Cu pad. For the manufacturing of the micro-bumps, photo-lithography and reflow process were carried out. After reflow process, the micro-bumps were aged at $150^{\circ}C$ during 1 hr to 500 hrs to observe behavior of IMCs growth at interface. As a different of Cu contents(0.5 or 2wt%) at Sn-Cu layer, behavior of IMCs was estimated. The interface were observed by FE-SEM and TEM for estimating of their each IMCs volume ratio and crystallographic-structure, respectively. From the results, it was found that the thickness of $Cu_3Sn$ layer formed at Sn-2.0Cu was thinner than the thickness of that layer be formed Sn-0.5Cu. After aging treatment $Cu_3Sn$ was formed at Sn-0.5Cu layer far thinner.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.250-253
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• 2007

An evaporated Ti/Pd/Ag contact system is most widely used to make high-efficiency silicon solar cells, however, the system is not cost effective due to expensive materials and vacuum techniques. Commercial solar cells with screen-printed contacts formed by using Ag paste suffer from a low fill factor and a high shading loss because of high contact resistance and low aspect ratio. Low-cost Ni and Cu metal contacts have been formed by using electroless plating and electroplating techniques to replace the Ti/Pd/Ag and screen-printed Ag contacts. Ni/Cu alloy is plated on a silicon substrate by electro-deposition of the alloy from an acetate electrolyte solution, and nickel-silicide formation at the interface between the silicon and the nickel enhances stability and reduces the contact resistance. It was, therefore, found that nickel-silicide was suitable for high-efficiency solar cell applications. The Ni contact was formed on the front grid pattern by electroless plating followed by anneal ing at $380{\sim}400^{\circ}C$ for $15{\sim}30$ min at $N_{2}$ gas to allow formation of a nickel-silicide in a tube furnace or a rapid thermal processing(RTP) chamber because nickel is transformed to NiSi at $380{\sim}400^{\circ}C$. The Ni plating solution is composed of a mixture of $NiCl_{2}$ as a main nickel source. Cu was electroplated on the Ni layer by using a light induced plating method. The Cu electroplating solution was made up of a commercially available acid sulfate bath and additives to reduce the stress of the copper layer. The Ni/Cu contact was found to be well suited for high-efficiency solar cells and was successfully formed by using electroless plating and electroplating, which are more cost effective than vacuum evaporation. In this paper, we investigated low-cost Ni/Cu contact formation by electroless and electroplating for crystalline silicon solar cells.