Abstract
Electrochemical deposition of metals and alloys onto metallic substrates plays an important role in many modern technologies. Usually, a photolithographic patterning process is used to produce the desired feature on the substrate surface. An alternative method to patterned metal deposition on semiconductors is presented here: it is based on changing the electrochemical properties of the semiconductor by controlled surface defect creation. A focused ion beam (FIB) was used to introduce defects into p-Si, followed by a selective electrochemical reaction to produce metal structures in the sub-micrometer range..
In this work we study the selective deposition, behavior of Cu on FIB sensitized surface locations and show that crystallite growth follows a three-dimensional growth law. Crystallites grow very rapidly in a first phase and reach a size of roughly 200nm after 5s. Factors determining nucleation, growth, and coalescence of metal clusters are identified and investigated.