Effect of applied current density on morphological and structural properties of electrodeposited Fe–Cu films

Abstract

A detailed study has been carried out to investigate the effect of applied current density on the composition,crystallographic structure, grain size, and surface morphology of Fe–Cu films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) resultsshow that the films consist of a mixture of face-centered cubic (fcc) Cu and body centered cubic (bcc)α-Fephases. The average crystalline size of both Fe and Cu particles decreases as the applied current densitybecomes more negative. Compositional analysis of Fe–Cu films indicates that the Fe content within the filmsincreases with decreasing current density towards more negative values. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to investigate the surface morphology of Fe–Cu films. Itis observed that the surface morphology of the films changes from dendritic structure to a cauliflower structureas the applied current density becomes more negative. The surface roughness and grain size of the Fe–Cufilms decrease with decreasing applied current density towards more negative values.