The corrosion behavior of electrochemically deposited copper thin films in deaerated and non-deaerated commercial cleaning solution containing HF has been investigated. Thin-film copper dissolution and reaction kinetics were investigated by monitoring Cu2+, employing inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy, and the oxidation states of copper on Si wafer surface, employing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was determined that the reaction kinetics is first order with respect to both HF and oxygen concentrations. A kinetic scheme involving reduction of oxygen and oxidation of Cu-0 and Cu1+ is proposed, which is consistent with the experimentally determined reaction kinetic orders and the observed deposition of undesired copper residues on semiconductor wafers during the cleaning process. (C) 2010 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3446816] All rights reserved.