Investigation into the electrodeposition of Ga-Fe-O thin films

Electrodeposition of Hybrid Magnetostrictive/Magnetoelectric Layered Systems

“…In Figure 2 , we compare the diffraction patterns for all the samples deposited at −1.150 V. For the identification of the diffraction peaks, we used the following XRD cards: Fe 3 O 4 (01-076-0958), GFO (01-082-9300), FeO(OH) (04-014-5919), and Fe 2 O 3 (00-039-1346 and 00-039-0238). FeGa has the same BCC structure as pure Fe but with sifted peaks due to the introduction of Ga in the Fe lattice [ 24 , 27 ]. As evidenced by XRD, apart from metallic FeGa, the experiment formed GFO, Fe oxides (Fe 3 O 4 : magnetite and γ-Fe 2 O 3 : maghemite), and Fe hydroxide (FeO(OH): goethite) ( Figure 2 ).…”

“…A PalmSens EmStat3+Blue potentiostat was used to control the electrodeposition processes that were carried out in a three-electrode cell with a platinum mesh as a counter electrode and an Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl) reference electrode from Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. (West Lafayette, IN, USA) (E eq = 0.196 V vs. SHE). Electrochemical experiments were performed without agitation or magnetic stirring in nonrotating substrates at 300 K. The nominal thickness of the films (200 nm) was adjusted by means of Faraday's law [24]. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) in the Bragg-Brentano configuration was performed in a Philips X'Pert MPD using the Cu K α wavelength (1.54056 Å).…”

“…High-quality, thin films have been obtained when using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) [7,[20][21][22][23], but industrial methods are needed for massive production. The inherent problems for the synthesis of this material system were highlighted when shown the necessity of a large optimization process in the solid-state route [14], and problems were detected when trying to electrodeposit GFO [24]. Electrodeposition is a technique routinely used by the industry, but there is a lack of papers devoted to this issue for GFO.…”

“…Electrodeposition is a technique routinely used by the industry, but there is a lack of papers devoted to this issue for GFO. Very recently, the inhibition of Fe oxidation has been shown when trying to electrodeposit GFO; indications of oxidation were only detected for Ga, whereas Fe remained in its metallic state [ 24 ]. This is in agreement with previous results obtained when studying the effect of thermal treatments in oxygen atmosphere on FeGa thin films [ 25 ].…”

“…In this way, the magnetostrictive material can maintain the remanent magnetization state induced by the electric field applied in the magnetoelectric layer. We took as a reference our previous study about GFO electrodeposition [ 24 ] to explore growth conditions for the synthesis of a hybrid layer. We successfully observed metallic FeGa with GFO segregated at the grain boundaries.…”