Examination of CoNiCu thin films by using XRF and XRD

Abstract

A series of thin films of CoNiCu and NiCu produced using the electrodeposition method have been examined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Energy dispersive XRF spectroscopy was used to determine the concentrations of the atomic percentage in these films. CoNiCu and NiCu thin film samples were excited by gamma rays with 59.5 keV energy photons from 100 mCi 241Am radioisotope source. K X-rays emitted by samples were counted by an Ultra-LEGe detector having a resolution of 150 eV at 5.9 keV. Structural analyses of these films have been done using the XRD technique and thin films were found to have a face-centred cubic (fcc) structure. In addition, surface morphologies of the films have been analysed by SEM. If one examines the SEM images of thin film samples, it can be seen that these elements have been homogeneously distributed in the samples of the thin films.