Surface morphology and crystal orientation of pyramidal shaped tin deposited by electroplating

The effect of hydroquinone and a polyethylene glycol-containing potassium salt on the surface morphology and crystal orientation of tin electrodeposited from acidic tin sulfate solutions was investigated in this study. Organic additives are commonly used in electrodeposition applications to produce a lustrous or bright deposit, enhance the corrosion protection or mechanical properties of the electroplated coating, or to provide other desirable properties.We studied the thin film characteristics of electrodeposited tin with organic additives that included potassium salts. Electrodeposition was performed using an electrolytic solution at various stirring speeds (80, 120, 160, 200, and 240 rpm) and electrodeposition times (from 1 s to 200 min) at room temperature. Pyramid-shaped tin was observed at stirring speeds higher than 160 rpm and at electrodeposition times longer than 52 min. X-ray diffraction spectra confirmed that these pyramid structures have (101) and (112) as the preferred orientation instead of the (200) orientation observed for a plane film.