Semiconductor backmetal (bm) and over pad metallization (opm) structures and related methods

A semiconductor device, comprising:

• a semiconductor layer having a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
• one or more electrically conductive pads coupled at the second side;
• one or more electrically insulative layers coupled at the second side and having one or more openings providing access to the one or more electrically conductive pads;
• an electrically conductive layer coupled on the first side of the semiconductor layer;
• a first nickel layer coupled on the electrically conductive layer;
• a second nickel layer coupled on the one or more electrically conductive pads;
• a first diffusion barrier layer coupled to the first nickel layer;
• and
• a second diffusion barrier layer coupled to the second nickel layer.

A semiconductor device (device), comprising:

• a semiconductor layer having a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
• one or more electrically conductive pads coupled at the second side;
• one or more electrically insulative layers coupled at the second side and having one or more openings providing access to the one or more electrically conductive pads;
• an electrically conductive layer coupled on the first side of the semiconductor layer;
• a titanium layer coupled on the electrically conductive layer;
• a first nickel layer coupled on the titanium layer;
• a silver layer coupled on the first nickel layer;
• a second nickel layer coupled over the one or more electrically conductive pads;
• and
• a diffusion barrier layer coupled over the second nickel layer;
• wherein the semiconductor device comprises one of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and a diode.