Influence of ultrasonication on the mechanical properties of Cu/Al2O3 nanocomposite thin films during electrocodeposition

To overcome the poor mechanical properties of pure Cu thin films, we performed electrocodeposition to make nanocomposite thin films by incorporating inert Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (50 nm and 300 nm in diameter). In addition, to reduce agglomeration due to their high surface energy, we used ultrasonication during the electrocodeposition. In this paper, we examined the effects of the ultrasonication on the mechanical properties of nanocomposite films with different ultrasonic energy density up to 225 W/cm². Ultrasonication during electrocodeposition efficiently reduced the agglomeration of nanoparticles and reduced the grain size of the Cu matrix. Smaller nanoparticles were more efficiently de-agglomerated by ultrasonication, which resulted in more enhanced mechanical properties in the 50 nm Al₂O₃ nanoparticle-enhanced specimens. Although the addition of nanoparticles in the Cu matrices significantly increased the hardness of the specimens, as observed in nanoindentation tests, we did not observe such an increase in tensile tests. Reducing the grain size by ultrasonication seems to be an important parameter in enhancing the overall mechanical properties of nanocomposites. Ultrasonication provided a significant increase in all mechanical properties, including elastic modulus, yield stress, ultimate tensile stress, and elongation, of all controlled Cu films.