Influence of deposition potential on the electrodeposited Ternary CoFeCu films

Ternary CoFeCu films, relating their magnetic and magnetoresistance properties with film composition, surface morphology and the corresponding crystal structure, were investigated in terms of different deposition potentials in electrodeposition. The films were grown on polycrystalline titanium substrates. The potentials were obtained from cyclic voltammetry and the current–time transients were also recorded to control the growth of proper films. From the structural analysis by X-ray diffraction, all films had a face-centred cubic structure and the calculated grain size increased with increasing deposition potential. The film compositions by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that the Co, Fe and Cu contents varied and the scanning electron microscope images disclosed that the film morphologies changed as the deposition potential changed. The saturation magnetization was high and coercivity was low at high deposition potential. The easy axis of magnetization was parallel to the film plane for all films. All films showed anisotropic magnetic resistance and their magnitudes were between 3.2 and 3.8 %. The variations in magnetic and magnetoresistive properties related to the microstructure were attributed to the variation of the film contents caused by deposition potential.