Facile electrodeposition CoCu/Cu multilayers: deposition potentials for magnetic layers

Abstract

The Co(Cu)/Cu magnetic multilayers were produced by electrodeposition technique as a function of the cathode potentials for magnetic layer deposition from a single bath. For proper depositions, cyclic voltammograms were used and the current-time transients were obtained. All potentials were determined with respect to saturated calomel electrode. The Co layers were deposited at cathode potentials of -1.3, -1.5 and -1.7 V, while -0.3 V was used for the Cu layers deposition. All multilayers were polycrystalline in the face-centred-cubic (fcc) structure with both Co and Cu layers adopting the fcc structure. The crystal structure of the multilayers is the same as fcc bulk Cu, but (220) peak splits the two peaks which are Cu(220) and Co(220). Both Co and Cu diffraction lines overlap in the (111) and (200) strong peaks and thus they seem to be a single peak. In the magnetisation measurements, the highest saturation magnetization was found to be 212 kA/m in producing with -1.5 V for Co deposition potential. The coercivities of multilayers are found to be 12.1, 16.9 and 18.3 kA/m for -1.3, -1.5 and -1.7 V cathode potentials, respectively.