Effect of a constant magnet position and intensity on a copper layer obtained by DC electrodeposition

Copper (Cu) has high electrical and thermal conductivity compared with aluminium (Al); therefore, Cu has replaced Al as a metal for interconnects. In particular, Al coated with Cu will provide the benefit of reducing production costs. In this work, the Cu layer was fabricated using an electrodeposition process under the influence of a constant magnetic field. A single constant magnet field is placed perpendicular with a substrate using various magnetic intensities and positioning of the magnetic pole. The cathodic current efficiency, deposition rate, surface morphology, oxygen content, crystallographic orientation, corrosion rate, corrosion potential, and microhardness were measured and analyzed. The results show that by exerting a constant magnet during electrodeposition, the cathodic current efficiency, deposition rate, peak (111) intensities, and hardness of the Cu layer significant increase. The crystal systems of all the Cu layer is a cubic structure (FCC) with FM-3M space group, and three significant peaks are seen based on high score refinement. Three significant peaks are seen in (111), (002), and (022) planes with various preferred orientations. The preferred orientation shifted from (022) to (111) plane when a constant magnet was applied. Furthermore, the Cu 1-14N sample displays better hardness and corrosion resistance with values of 255.2 HV and 0.023 mmpy, respectively.