Electrochemical preparation and magnetic properties of Co–Cu nanometric granular alloy films

Abstract

A detailed electrodeposition of Co-Cu nanometric granular alloy films in citrate solution has been performed based on a galvanostatic technique. Electrochemical behaviour of the bath solution containing both Co 2+ and Cu 2+ was investigated by linear sweep voltammetry. Cathodic polarization curves indicated that high quality Co-Cu nanometric granular alloy films can be obtained at room temperature with a pH of 6 and current density equal to or more negative than − 1.0 mA cm −2. Magnetic properties of the films were measured at room temperature by the physical property measurement system. Magnetization curves of the as-prepared Co-Cu nanometric granular alloy films displayed superparamagnetism (SPM). However, after annealing at 450 • C for 1 h, magnetic property of the films changed from SPM to ferromagnetism. Meanwhile, the annealed Co-Cu nanometric granular alloy films showed an increase in saturation magnetization with the increase of the current density.

Tailoring Magnetic and Transport Anisotropies in Co100−x–Cux Thin Films through Obliquely Grown Nano-Sheets

“…Ferromagnetic Co-Cu materials are widely used due to their interesting magnetic and transport properties; these properties are affected by the shape and nanostructure of the materials (among other parameters) and can be controlled by deposition techniques [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] (and references therein). These Co-Cu materials are known to be suitable for devices used, for example, in microelectronics and telecommunication [6], ultra-high energy storage systems [33], spintronics applications [34], magneto-resistive sensors [35,36] or catalytic applications [37,38].…”