Effect of free energy barrier on pattern transition in 2D diffusion limited aggregation morphology of electrodeposited copper

Fractal like morphology is a very interesting feature during electrodeposition of metals and shows pattern transition with changes in deposition conditions. In this article, we have explained the thermal effects in the two dimensional DLA morphology on the basis of thermal free energy and another free energy barrier resulting from the electric field. The results obtained from free energy hypothesis are consistent with experiments showing the transition voltage for electrodeposition of copper ions to be around 6 V.