Characterisations of CoCu films electrodeposited at different cathode potentials

Structural and magnetic properties of CoCu films electrodeposited on polycrystalline Cu substrates were investigated as a function of cathode potential used for their deposition. The compositional analysis, performed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, demonstrated that an increase in the deposition potential results in an increase in Co content of CoCu films. The crystal structure of the films was studied using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. It was observed that they have a face centred cubic (fcc) structure, but also contain partly hexagonal close-packed phase. XRD results revealed that the (1 1 1) peak of fcc structure splits into two as Co (1 1 1) and Cu (1 1 1) peaks and the peak intensities change depending on the deposition potential and hence the film composition. The magnetic measurements were carried out at room temperature using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The magnetic findings indicated that coercivity decreases and saturation magnetisation increases with the increase of Co:Cu ratio caused by the deposition potential and also all films have planar magnetisation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.