Nanotwinned Cu thin film with different twin boundary orientations deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

Nanotwinned Cu thin films were fabricated on Si (100) substrate by using unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UBMS) system. By varying the deposition rate and the deposition temperature, we observed that there are two major twin orientations. One is parallel to the substrate and the other one makes an angel of 70 degree with the substrate. The effect of twin orientation on the mechanical properties and corrosive behavior was investigated in this study. The results show that the samples with 70.5 degree orientation to the substrate were harder than those with orientation parallel to the substrate The samples with more parallel type of the twin boundary would exhibit better corrosion resistance.