Copper electrochemical deposition on titanium with a ruthenium seed layer was investigated. The chemicals for the acid-bath ruthenium electrochemical deposition were ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate (RuCl(3)(.)3H(2)O), hydrochloric acid (HCl), sulfamic acid (NH2SO3H), and polyethylene glycol. The chemicals for the acid-bath copper electrochemical depositions were copper(II) sulfate hydrate (CuSO(4)(.)5H(2)O), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and polyethylene glycol. Results were analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). Ruthenium thin film of similar to 30 nm thickness, with equiaxial grains < 10 nm, was deposited, on a blanket Ti with a root mean square roughness of 8.3 nm, at 2 V for 90s. XPS and RBS analyses showed the presence of metallic Ru. The Ti substrate was found stable with respect to ECD of Ru but the Ru/Ti bilayer was not found stable in the Cu acid bath, resulting in the diffusion of Ti into Ru film. The depth profiling studies indicates that Ru film thickness ca. 1.4 nm and deposition time of 10 s can act as a good seed layer. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.