Electrochemical Deposition of Fe–Co–Ni Samples with Different Co Contents and Characterization of Their Microstructural and Magnetic Properties

Van Cao Long,Umut Saraç,Luong Duong Trong,Ştefan Ţălu,Dung Nguyen Trong,Mevlana Celalettin Baykul

doi:10.3390/coatings12030346

Abstract

In this study, to explore the effect of Co contents on the electroplated Fe–Co–Ni samples, three different Fe–Co33–Ni62, Fe–Co43–Ni53, and Fe–Co61–Ni36 samples were electrochemically grown from Plating Solutions (PSs) containing different amounts of Co ions on indium tin oxide substrates. Compositional analysis showed that an increase in the Co ion concentration in the PS gives rise to an increment in the weight fraction of Co in the sample. In all samples, the co–deposition characteristic was described as anomalous. The samples exhibited a predominant reflection from the (111) plane of the face–centered cubic structure. However, the Fe–Co61–Ni36 sample also had a weak reflection from the (100) plane of the hexagonal close–packed structure of Co. An enhancement in the Co contents caused a strong decrement in the crystallinity, resulting in a decrease in the size of the crystallites. The Fe–Co33–Ni62 sample exhibited a more compact surface structure comprising only cauliflower–like agglomerates, while the Fe–Co43–Ni53 and Fe–Co61–Ni36 samples had a surface structure consisting of both pyramidal particles and cauliflower–like agglomerates. The results also revealed that different Co contents play an important role in the surface roughness parameters. From the magnetic analysis of the samples, it was understood that the Fe–Co61–Ni36 sample has a higher coercive field and magnetic squareness ratio than the Fe–Co43–Ni53 and Fe–Co33–Ni62 samples. The differences observed in the magnetic characteristics of the samples were attributed to the changes revealed in their phase structure and surface roughness parameters. The obtained results are the basis for the fabrication of future magnetic devices.

Highlights

Nanostructured ferromagnetic materials in the form of thin films are widely used in many technological applications and attract great attention because of their good physical and magnetic features [1–5]
The results showed that the crystallinity, crystallite size, phase structure, particle shape, particle size, magnetic properties, and roughness parameters of the samples are strongly dependent on their Co contents
The X-ray diffraction beam is shined at the sample with a very narrow angle of incidence to increase the length of the X-ray beam that interacts with the thin film, keeping the sample stationary and rotating the receiver

Summary

Introduction

Nanostructured ferromagnetic materials in the form of thin films are widely used in many technological applications and attract great attention because of their good physical and magnetic features [1–5]. Among the growth techniques developed, the electrochemical deposition technique has been successfully used in computer read/write heads and Micro–ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) applications due to its unique features [1,3,6–12]. The conducted studies showed that the Fe, Ni, and Co components in binary Ni–Co, Ni–Fe and Fe–Cu and ternary Ni–Co–Cu, Ni–Fe–Cu, Co–Fe–Cu and Fe–Co–Ni magnetic materials grew by the electrochemical deposition technique on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) covered glass substrates which can be tuned by controlling the Fe, Ni and Co ion concentrations in the Plating Solutions (PSs), respectively [13–21]. The influence of size, heating rate, temperature and annealing time has been successfully studied on the structure, electronic structure, phase transition and mechanical properties of metal Ni [26–28], Fe [29], Al [30,31], Alloy AuCu [32,33], CuNi [34–36], NiAu [37], FeC [38], FeNi [39,40], AgAu [41], AlNi [42], and NiCu [43]

Objectives

Methods

Results