Periodical nanostructured multiline copper films self-organized by electrodeposition: structure and properties

Nanoscale patterned electrodeposition of metals on flat substrates has become a topic of great interest both scientifically and technologically in recent years. Here, we demonstrate the self-organized growth of extended arrays of parallel nanoscale copper wires on flat glass chips from an ultrathin aqueous electrolyte layer. Regular, periodic patterns of copper nanowires with diameters in the range of 40 nm-400 nm were grown, forming parallel arrays of alternating lines of copper and cuprous oxide at periodicities down to approx. 80 nm, depending on the deposition parameters such as voltage and pH. The resulting multiline films are investigated with respect to their structure and electrical properties using Electrical Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Scanning Auger Electron Spectroscopy. The results of the experiments show a strongly anisotropic behavior of the electrical properties of multiline nanostructures corresponding to their strongly anisotropic geometry.