Effect of Cobalt Concentration on Structural and Magnetic Properties of Co-Fe Thin Films

Co-Fe films were electrodeposited on Cu substrate from electrolytes with different Co concentration  levels. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used  to  investigate  the  films  crystal  structures. The  results  indicate that  if  the  Co  concentration  is  less  that  the  Fe  concentration,  the cubic  structure  appears  in  the  films, while  the  hexagonal  structure dominates when  the Co  concentration  is  sufficiently more  than  the Fe  concentration. The  films  composition was  studied  using  energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The EDX results indicate that increasing of the electrolyte Co concentration leads to an increase in the Co  content  in  the Co-Fe  alloy  films but  in  a non-linear manor. Morphological observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the Co-Fe grain size increases when the electrolyte Co concentration  is  increased.  Magnetic  measurements  by  vibration sample  magnetometer  (VSM)  show  that  the  films  have  in-plane magnetization  easy axes. Furthermore,  the  saturation magnetization increases as the Co concentration increases.