Electrodeposition of manganese film on copper substrate in a chloride-based solution was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in combination with in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The SE results at different polarization potentials show that the hydrogen evolution has no influence on the SE measurement. The CV results, confirmed by SE data, indicate the starting reduction and oxidation potentials of manganese. The potential for electrodeposition of manganese film with the maximum thickness was determined based on the SE measurements. The SE results show that the manganese film is relatively loose, which is consistent with the observation by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The growth kinetics of manganese electrodeposition was proposed according to the SE measurements. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.