Al Electroplating

Hi,

I am a grad student and I am researching ways to electroplate Al on Silicon wafers in order to make some Micro-Mechanical structures. I need to plate 1 micron thick, low stress, uniform deposition.

Currently, I am researching the ways, setups and chemical recipes needed to electroplate Al. What is needed to build a plating setup in my university lab?

I read one paper saying Al plating is done in an ether solution (since water solutions are not possible to use), which is highly flammable. It was also saying since Al forms a native oxide fairly quickly, the process should be done in an inert environment, like a N2 filled glove box. This was just a singke paper and I don't know the accuracy of the presented information.

The bottom line is, I need help from other researchers and/or industry people, who has experience with Aluminum electroplating to point me what are the possible ways to do Al plating in a safe and lab-friendly(i.e. small scale and not too expensive) way.

Many thanks