Objective To investigate the failure mechanism of Au/ Ni/ Cu multilayer film in the tropical marine climate, so as to provide reference for the research on the early warning of corrosion failure in electron components. Methods In this study, magnetron sputtering was used to develop Au/ Ni/ Cu thin film on p type single crystal Si(100) substrate. The surface and interface structure changes of Au/ Ni/ Cu thin films in the tropical marine climate were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Results In the early stage of aging treatment, Au atoms aggregated on the Au/ Ni/ Cu thin film surface and formed discontinuous island structure and micro-cracks around the islands. With the increase of aging time, Ni atoms and Cu atoms diffused to the surface of the Au layer near the corrosion holes formed in the films. As the aging time increased further, the number of the corrosion holes increased, and the corrosion hole area was enlarged, at this time the samples were in the terminal stage of corrosion. In the meantime, no obvious coarsening was observed at the interface of Au / Ni / Cu thin film in the areas away from the corrosion holes. Conclusion The failure of Au / Ni / Cu thin film in tropical marine climate mainly proceeded through surface corrosion hole.