Fabrication of copper microcylinders in polycarbonate membranes and their characterization

The electrochemical template synthesis of high aspect ratio copper microcylinders in the track-etch membranes of polycarbonate having nominal pore size of 800 nm is considered. Effect of various parameters during electrodeposition is studied. It is found that only a narrow range of current densities yields good quality crop. Proper wetting of the membrane prior to electrodeposition is found to make significant contribution towards simultaneous start and uniform growth of the microstructures. The morphological and structural analyses have been carried out through scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction respectively. It is observed that the actual diameter of the cylinders is slightly larger than the nominal pore-size. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the material has FCC lattice structure with a high texture coefficient for (200) planes. Finally, the voltage-current studies have been carried out and the microstructures are found to obey ohm’s law. C 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc