We report on advances in the electrochemical deposition of indium (In) on molybdenum foil that enables deposition of electronicgrade purity, continuous films with thickness in the micron range. The desired In film morphology is obtained from an InCl 3 aqueous bath by using a high current density of 250 mA/cm 2 and a low deposition-bath temperature of −5 • C to increase the nucleation density of In islands until a continuous film is obtained. As an example application, the electrodeposited In films are phosphorized via the thin-film vapor-liquid-solid growth method. The resulting poly-crystalline InP films display excellent optoelectronic quality, comparable to single crystalline InP wafers, thus demonstrating the versatility of the developed electrochemical deposition procedure.

Electrodeposition of some metals at room temperatures have been restricted in aqueous solutions to those that present a standard potential less negative than that of water reduction. Some of these metals could be deposited but with economic expense using either organic solvents or using more drastic conditions as molten salts. In this work we select to study the cobalt-samarium electrodeposition process possibilities, due to that upon depending the ratio between the metals this alloy could derive to potentially hard magnetic material. The interest at first is focused into the study of the deposition process of each metal partner and the corresponding joint process using as solvent the eutectic mixture 1 chlorine chloride: 2 urea.

Sensors are the devices which are composed of an active sensing material with a signal transducer. The recent development in the nanotechnology has paved the way for large number of new materials and devices of desirable properties which have useful functions for numerous electrochemical sensor and biosensor applications. In this work, results on the galvanic displacement of gold on silicon in different electrolytes will be presented. The growth of the gold films is characterized and the interfacial behavior with the substrate is characterized by microindentation in order to highlight the adhesion as a function of the electrolyte. Results on high surface area gold nanostructures on silicon will be presented. Such films will be tested and surface morphology will be correlated to the adsorption of flavoenzymes.

There are several microelectronic processes which are based on gold due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Adhesion of gold films which are deposited by galvanic displacement is investigated by microindentation measurements. For investigation, load-displacement tests are performed on gold nanostructures which are deposited onto mono (100) and polycrystalline silicon in sulfite solutions. Composite hardness model for soft film on hard substrate is used to analyze the results. Gold films growth and composite Vickers microhardness are influenced by the adhesion of the gold film to silicon, as a function of different electrolytes and silicon substrates. The higher composite hardness and more extended deformation zone at the film/substrate lead to stronger adhesion. For the same film thickness, the composite hardness of films which are deposited onto mono silicon is higher than films on poly silicon. The effect of cysteine as additive on adhesion and microhardness measurements is emphasized.