MAGNETIC PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF Co–Ni–Fe–Gd–Mn ELECTRODEPOSITED THIN FILM

Abstract

The magnetic properties and microstructures of electrodeposited Co–Ni–Fe–Gd thin films have been investigated for various concentrations of Mn. Nanocrystalline Co–Ni–Fe–Gd alloy thin films were deposited by electrodeposition method on copper substrate with different concentrations of Mn. Microstructures of the deposited Co–Ni–Fe–Gd films were investigated with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and different morphologies such as one-dimensional flower-like crystallites and two-dimensional plate-like crystallites were observed. The Co–Ni–Fe–Gd alloy films exhibit both soft and hard magnetic properties as the Mn ion concentration is varied and the best soft magnetic character is obtained when Mn concentration is 0.1 M, which may be a good candidate for MEMS and recording media.