In this paper, the surface of Cu film was treated with formic acid vapor and solution for Cu low temperature bonding. After formic acid vapor/solution treatment, Cu film surface oxide was reduced, and surface became rougher. For formic acid vapor treatment, with the increase of treatment time, Cu film surface was reduced gradually at 200 degrees C, surface roughness and particle size became bigger. For formic acid solution treatment, the reduction of the surface of the copper film was the most abundant when the solution concentration is 50%. After the treatment with formic acid solution, the surface roughness and particle size of copper film increase significantly. As the formic acid solution on the surface of copper film has a certain role in corrosion, using formic acid solution treatment, better surface reduction and rougher surface for Cu film were obtained. By contrast, using formic acid vapor treatment, surface reduction is not so good, but surface is smoother than that treated by formic acid solution. Cu/Cu direct bonding was realized at 200 degrees C after formic acid vapor/solution treatment. Using formic acid vapor treatment, Cu/Cu bond strength is about 18.2 MPa, which is higher than that using formic acid solution treatment. (C) The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS.