The diamond pyramid structure in electroless copper deposit, its atomic model and molecular dynamics simulation

In this paper, we report the discovery of the diamond pyramid structures in the electroless copper deposits on both epoxy and stainless steel substrates. The surface morphology of the structure was characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM). According to the morphological feature of the structure, an atom model was brought forward in order to describe the possible mechanism of forming such structure. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were then carried out to investigate the growing process of the diamond pyramid structure. The final structures of the simulation were compared with the SEM images and the atomic model. The radial distribution function of the final structures of the simulation was compared with that calculated from the X-ray diffraction pattern of the electroless copper deposit sample.