Mechanisms for microstructure evolution in electroplated copper thin films near room temperature

During a transient period following deposition, the microstructure of electroplated copper thin films evolve towards larger grain size, different preferred crystallographic texture, and less resistivity, hardness and compressive stress. A model to account for this observation is derived based on grain boundary energy in the fine-grained as-deposited films providing the underlying energy density driving abnormal grain growth. Model predictions describe the mechanisms for the evolution process.