Abstract
The morphology of copper deposits formed by pulse plating from an acid sulphate electrolyte is investigated. The steady and non-steady state conditions of mass transport are controlled by use of a rotating hemispherical electrode. Below the limiting pulse current density (i pl), granular deposits are observed. Abovei pl, regardless of the individual values of the pulse parameters, dendritic deposits are formed. Measured current efficiencies are compared with a theoretical model, which predicts a rapid decrease of the efficiency with the increasing ofi p/i pl fori p/i pl greater than one, wherei p is the applied pulse current density. For a given set of pulse parameters, the measured current efficiency increases with the deposit thickness due to the increase of the effective surface area. This effect is particularly important for dendritic deposits.
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Abbreviations
- A :
-
apparent (effective) surface area (cm2)
- A 0 :
-
geometrical surface area (cm2)
- D :
-
diffusion coefficient (cm2s−1)
- i :
-
current density (A cm−2)
- i l :
-
limiting current density (A cm−2)
- i p :
-
pulse current density (A cm−2)
- i pl :
-
pulse limiting current density (A cm−2)
- i m :
-
average current density in pulse plating (A cm−2)
- N p :
-
dimensionless numberN p=i p/i pl
- N m :
-
dimensionless numberN m=i m/i l
- t p :
-
pulse time (s)
- t′p :
-
relaxation time (s)
- γ:
-
duty cycle, γ=t p/(t p+t′p)
- δ:
-
(steady state) diffusion layer thickness (cm)
- δp :
-
pulsating diffusion layer thickness (cm)
- θ:
-
current efficiency
- ν:
-
kinematic viscosity (cm2s−1)
- ω:
-
rotation rate (rad s−1)
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Chène, O., Landolt, D. The influence of mass transport on the deposit morphology and the current efficiency in pulse plating of copper. J Appl Electrochem 19, 188–194 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01062299
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01062299