The Effect of Copper Dissolution in Acidic Electrolyte on the Formation of Nanotwin in Pulse Electrodeposited Copper

The effect of Cu dissolution during pulse electrodeposition process on the generation of high density nanoscale twin structure was investigated. During off-time, the density of nuclei was reduced by acidity of electrolytes. The reduction in the density of nuclei could suppress the formation of nanocrystalline structure, which is commonly observed at pulse electrodeposition, and the twin structure was generated to reduce the accumulated strain energy during on-time in grains. We confirmed the effect of the dissolution of Cu on the twin generation by measuring the mechanical strength and electrical resistivity of Cu deposits obtained at different pH, with which, the dissolution rate of Cu was controlled.