Thin film electrodeposition of nanostructured copper in presence of ultrasound

Abstract

Electrodeposition of copper thin films of the order 4 μm was carried out potentiostaticlly on metallic substrates with and without the presences of ultrasound. A simple acidic solution without any additives served the medium of deposits.Crystallinity and other details of average domain size and strain were carefully analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies.Comparision of the line plots gives the highly crystallinity nature of copper deposits in presences of ultrasound and an amorphous impression for silent deposits. Domain size calculation gives a value of around 0.3μm in both the condition. The morphology of these copper deposits were systematically compared by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) methods respectively. The average grain size of Cu deposit was found in well agreement with the XRD results. A characteristic corncob like structure appears in silent Cu deposits where as the sonicated deposit is a compact one. Compositional study by EDS confers the impurity free deposit in ultrasound in terms of sulpher content and oxidation level.Resistivity measurement by four probe method further complies the EDS results.