Electrochemically deposited Fe±P magnetic thin ®lm from acidic tartarate complex bath solution was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As-prepared ®lm contains both Fe 3 -and P
5-like species, whereas the same ®lm after 10 and 20 min sputtering shows peaks corresponding to Fe metal as well as P dÀ species along with P 5 species. The ®lm after heattreatment contains Fe 3 together with P 5 and P dÀ species, whereas heat-treated ®lm after sputtering shows the presence of both Fe metal and Fe 2 species. There is an increase in P dÀ intensity on sputtering the heat-treated ®lm. #