Reduction of copper oxide film to elemental copper

The reduction of copper oxide film was studied as a process step in the manufacturing of elemental copper film via copper oxide film. Alcohols, carboxylic acids, and aldehydes were tested as reducing agents. The copper oxide film was exposed to reducing agents below 400degreesC using nitrogen as a carrier gas. The reduction efficiency was studied by characterizing the oxide residues with ion beam analysis and measuring the electrical resistance of the films. Thermodynamic calculations were compared with the observations. Most of the reducing agents per-formed well and copper oxide film as thick as 300-400 nm was completely reduced to elemental copper. (C) 2004 The Electrochemical Society.