Studying structural, magnetic and morphological features of electrochemically fabricated thin films of Co-Ni-Fe with different Fe compositions

Abstract

In this work, a detailed study on the influence of the Fe composition on the crystallite size, lattice parameter, crystallographic texture, coercive field (H-c), magnetic squareness ratio (SQR), domain structure, surface roughness and grain size in electroplated Co-Ni-Fe deposits was carried out. For this aim, Co-Ni-67, Co-Ni-61-Fe-6 and Co-Ni-54-Fe-13 thin films with different Fe compositions were fabricated using electrochemical deposition technique. The results showed that the composition of Fe in the deposit depends on the concentration of Fe ions in the electroplating solution. An increase in the Fe composition caused a noticeable reduction in the size of crystallites and induced a considerable enhancement in the strength of the preferred orientation being in the [111] direction. It was also observed that an increase in the Fe composition makes the lattice parameter larger. Compared to other deposits, the Co-Ni-54-Fe-13 with the highest Fe composition exhibited a lower surface roughness and a more compact nodular surface topography consisting of relatively finer grains. All deposits displayed a stripe domain (SD) structure, an in-plane magnetic hysteresis loop with a vertical magnetization component and a semi-hard magnetic property. However, the H, value, SQR parameter and SD width varied in accordance with the Fe composition.