A study on ex-situ non-isothermal grain growth behavior of sono-electrochemically deposited Cu thin films

Abstract

In this work, the growth kinetics of low temperature sono-electrochemically deposited Cu thin films has been studied under non-isothermal conditions using a differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) technique. The analysis focuses on the effect of deposition temperature on the DSC results. The grain growth mechanism and mode were discussed by determining the variation of the activation and surface energies of the films. The kinetic observations were then correlated with the morphological evolution of the films using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results suggest a transition of abnormal growth to normal mode of growth behavior as the film synthesis temperature was reduced.