Nucleation and growth in electrodeposition of thin copper films on pyrolytic graphite

摘要

Electrodeposition of Cu on graphite electrodes was studied, with emphasis on nucleation. Various ex-situ and in-situ methods were investigated for determining the number density of nuclei. Two direct methods were studied (scanning electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy); indirect determinations included Raman spectroscopy and analysis of potentiostatic current transients. Though some of the techniques correctly predicted the nucleation densities under special conditions, SEM was the most reliable tool. The large scatter in the data necessitated steps to minimize this effect. To electrodeposit Cu on graphite, a nucleation overpotential of 250 mV was measured with cyclic voltammetry; such a large overpotential does not occur on a Pt or on a Cu-covered graphite electrode. The deposition potential is the dominant parameter governing nucleation density. There is a sharp increase in the nucleation density with applied potential. Cu can be deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite only between the nucleation overpotential and the hydrogen evolution potential. To increase the Cu nucleation density, while avoiding excessive H evolution, a double pulse potential technique was used; nucleation densities on the order of 10(sup 10) nuclei/cm(sup 2) were achieved. The use of inhibitors (PVA, benzotriazole) was also investigated. Deposition on conducting polymer electrodes was also studied; initial results with polyaniline show promise. 57 figs, 6 tabs, refs. (DLC)