A Study on a Relationship Between Sputtering Condition and Electrochemical Property of Molybdenum Thin Films in Phosphoric Acid Solution

Abstract

The etching behavior of sputtered molybdenum thin film in a mixture of phosphoric acid and nitric acid was investigated. Open circuit potential transients and potentio-dynamic curves for various molybdenum thin films with different sputtering power were examined. As the power density increased, the residual stress of molybdenum thin film changed from -76.2 to -122.06 GPa and the density increased to 10.22 g/cm(3). Despite these increase, the corrosion current of molybdenum thin film decreased. The molybdenum thin films deposited at high power density showed an accelerated corrosion rate in the solution compared to the film grown at low power density. The model based on the mechanical properties of the molybdenum thin film is presented. In addition, the difference in the corrosion rate of the molybdenum thin film with dependence on sputtering condition leads to the difference in galvanic relation between copper and molybdenum.