High rate of copper electrodeposition from the hexafluorosilicate bath

A high-rate copper electrodeposition performed from a hexafluorosilicate bath is presented in this article. It is shown that the current density for electrodeposition ranges from 1 to 30 A dm− 2 and the optimal suggested current density is 15 A dm− 2 or a rate of 200 μm h– 1. High plating rate is due to a higher mass transport through the hexafluorosilicate media when compared to a conventional sulphate-based bath. The microstructure, texture and mean grain size of the 30 μm-thick films plated from the additive free bath and the bath containing 10− 3 mol dm− 3 thiourea and 500 ppm Cl− is studied with respect to the applied current density. Copper plated from the bath without additives has a macrocrystalline structure with preferable 110 texture and mean grain size of 65–85 nm, while thiourea produces a microsmooth surface and 111 texture with grain size of 40–70 nm.