Electrochemical deposition of Ni and Cu onto monocrystalline n-Si(100) wafers and into nanopores in Si/SiO₂ template

Nickel and copper were potentiostatically deposited onto monocrystalline n-Si (100) wafers and in nanoporous SiO₂/Si template from 0.5 M NiSO₄ + 0.5 M H₃BO₃ and 0.005 M CuSO₄ + 0.5 M H₃BO₃ solutions. Nanoporous SiO₂/Si template was formed by etching in dilute HF solution of ion tracks. The latter were produced by high-energy (380 MeV) Au⁺ ions bombardment of silicon oxide thermally grown on silicon (100) substrate. The deposition of metals was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry; the structure and morphology of products were ex-situ investigated by SEM and XRD. The level of pores filling was controlled by deposition time. Electrodeposition occurred selectively into nanopores and the deposition on SiO₂ layer was excluded. It was found out that Ni and Cu electrodeposited into nanopores of SiO₂/Si system formed the same structures as at electrodeposition on the surface of monocrystalline n-Si—granules for Ni and scale-shaped particles for Cu deposits.