Grain growth in electroplated (111)-oriented nanotwinned Cu

Abstract

The grain growth of pulse-plated (111)-oriented nanotwinned Cu (nt-Cu) was investigated at 200-350 degrees C. The results indicate that after the annealing, the nt-Cu exhibits good thermal stability, and columnar grains with a (111)-oriented nt-Cu structure are maintained up to 300 degrees C. The columnar grains consume the original fine-grained region at the bottom of the sample. In addition, these fine grains were converted into nanotwinned columnar grains with a (111) orientation. The electroplated Cu film possessed extremely high (111) preferred orientation after the annealing. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.