FRACTAL GROWTH OF COPPER IN A GEL MEDIUM

Fractal growth of electrodeposited copper in a gel medium with differe nt concentrations of copper ions has been studied. The fractal dimensi ons (d(f)) show a periodic variation as a function of voltage with the values varying from 2.0 to 1.75. The behaviour is explained on the ba sis of two mechanisms, viz. generalized diffusion limited aggregation and dielectric breakdown. Electron micrographs of the samples indicate that the clusters consist of metallic copper having dimensions in the range 6.2-20.8 nm. Metal particle size can be varied by changing the applied voltage. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.