Octylphenol ethoxylate surfactant as a suppressor in copper electrodeposition

In this study, the role of octylphenol ethoxylate (Triton X-100) surfactant as a suppressor in Cu electrodeposition has been examined. The inhibition ability of Triton X-100 was qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated with cyclic voltammograms and KouteckA-Levich plots, and compared with that of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with similar molecular size. The presence of a hydrophobic benzene-ring in its structure made it inhibit Cu deposition more strongly than PEG. The inhibition function of Triton X-100 depended on the substrate material and it was influenced by the presence of Cl- and bis sulphopropyl disulphide in the electrolyte indicating that the characteristics of Triton X-100 were similar to those of PEG, which was also demonstrated by gap filling of Cu with using Triton X-100 in the replacement of PEG. The effect of Triton X-100 on the properties of the deposit film was also investigated, and it was found that it suppressed the three-dimensional growth of Cu.