Surface morphology, structural and magnetic properties of electrodeposited NiFeCu/Cu films

Abstract

The magnetic and structural properties of the NiFeCu/Cu films electrodeposited on polycrystalline titanium (Ti) substrates and their characterizations were studied. The structural analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD) has revealed that all films have face-centred cubic (FCC) structure. On the other hand, the XRD analysis showed that the degree of (111) texture is dependent on the Cu content within the film. The composition analysis was carried out by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The result of EDX indicated that the Cu content within the film increases with increasing of non-magnetic Cu layer thickness. The hysteresis loops of the films measured by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) showed that all films have a small coercivity typical for soft magnetic materials. The surface morphological structure of the films was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM images indicated that all films have main grains (globular islands) and smaller secondary grains on the main grains with different sizes. The differences observed in the magnetic properties of the films were attributed to the Cu content within the films.