Investigation of corrosion behaviour of nanostructured copper thin film produced by radio frequency sputtering

Nanostructured copper was deposited on oxidised p-type (100) single crystal silicon using radio frequency (RF) sputtering technique. The morphology and crystal orientation of the deposited films were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Corrosion behaviour of these films was studied by potentiodynamic polarisation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods. Results showed that the corrosion resistance of copper thin film produced by RF sputtering was higher than the copper sheet because of its higher ability to form a passive layer and protective cuprous oxide on its surface.