Determination of texture orientation related magnetic properties of nickel-cobalt films

Abstract

The determination of texture effects in nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) films with different thickness, which were obtained by electrodeposition, has been investigated by the measurement of hysteresis loops at different angles. Easy-axis distribution measurements were performed as a function of the squareness M(p)(beta) and the correlations were established among the different thicknesses. The composition of Ni-Co films was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The structural analysis made by X-ray diffraction revealed that all films have a polycrystalline face-centered cubic structure but their texture degrees vary depending on the film thickness. The determination of the easy-axis orientation in 2-D films from the M(p)(beta) obtained by the hystersis loops was studied using Fourier series analyses. The coefficient A(0) have a value of less then unity while A(2) is inversely proportional to the width of the distribution function which may cause the change in the texture preferential orientations. Therefore, the differences observed in the magnetic easy-axis distributions were attributed to the changes in texture orientations caused by the compositional differences at different thicknesses of the polycrystalline films.