Fabrication of thin film silver/silver chloride electrodes with finely controlled single layer silver chloride

This paper aims to present a protocol to form smooth and well-controlled films of silver/ silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) with designated coverage on top of thin film silver electrodes. Thin film silver electrodes sized 80 µm x 80 µm and 160 µm x 160 µm were sputtered on quartz wafers with a chromium/gold (Cr/Au) layer for adhesion. After passivation, polishing and cathodic cleaning processes, the electrodes underwent galvanostatic oxidation with consideration of Faraday's Law of Electrolysis to form smooth layers of AgCl with a designated degree of coverage on top of the silver electrode. This protocol is validated by inspection of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the surface of the fabricated Ag/AgCl thin film electrodes, which highlights the functionality and performance of the protocol. Sub-optimally fabricated electrodes are fabricated as well for comparison. This protocol can be widely used to fabricate Ag/AgCl electrodes with specific impedance requirements (e.g., probing electrodes for impedance sensing applications like impedance flow cytometry and interdigitated electrode arrays).