Selected-area growth of nickel micropillars on aluminum thin films by electroless plating for applications in microbolometers

In this paper, we present an experimental study on electroless nickel plating for applications in microbolometers. The study starts from an optimization of the electroless plating bath for depositing nickel on aluminum surface and ends up at the controlled growth of nickel micropillars on selected areas with the masking layer patterned by a conventional optical lithography process.