The role of deposition temperature on particle size, roughness parameters, magnetic and structural features of electrochemically grown ni–fe/ito samples

Abstract

In this work, the impact of the deposition temperature (DT) on the particle size, roughness parameters, coercive force, squareness and structural features of the Ni–Fe samples electrochemically deposited onto glasses covered with indium tin oxide (ITO) was researched. An increase in the DT from 20 to 40 °C led to a very slight increase in the Fe concentration of the samples, revealing that the effect of the DT on the chemical composition was insignificant. The crystal structure was a face–centered cubic (fcc) and the preferred growth orientation was in the [111] direction irrespective of the DT. The crystallization of the samples improved, the size of the crystallites increased and the strength of the [111] growth orientation diminished with the DT. An increment in the DT resulted in a strong enhancement in the particle size and surface roughness. Further surface analysis indicated that the sample surface had a well spread out height distribution at the DT of 40 °C, while the sample surfaces at lower DTs 20 and 30 °C had narrow height distributions. In addition to that, the peaks were found to be predominant on the sample surfaces at lower DTs (20 and 30 °C), whereas the deep valleys were predominant on the sample surface at the DT of 40 °C. Magnetic measurements confirmed the existence of a semi–hard magnetic property in all samples. Compared to other samples produced at lower DTs (20 and 30 °C), the Ni–Fe sample electroplated at the DT of 40 °C possessed the highest coercive force and squareness values. Moreover, the magnetic characteristics of the samples were compatible with their morphological and structural characteristics. © 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.