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 Mp(β ) 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(β ) 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.