5th INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ELECTRODEPOSITED NANOSTRUCTURES 7-9 June 2007, Iasi, Romania	ABSTRACTS

Magnetic properties of electroless Co-Fe ultra-thin films C. Borioli1, S. Franz1, M. Bestetti1, M. Cantoni2, P.L. Cavallotti1 1 Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali ed Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli, 7 – 20131 Milano, Italy 2 L-NESS, Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy E-mail: silvia.franz@polimi.it The magnetic properties of Co-Fe ultra-thin films (90 A to 10000 A) obtained by electroless deposition were investigated. Cobalt-iron ultra thin film were deposited onto Si/TiN/Cu/NiP substrates from a sulphamate electrolyte containing Fe(III) working at pH 7 and 60oC. Iron content in the films varied in the range 30-44 at% depending on the additive employed (sodium saccharin, saccharin, maltose and glucose). The growth rate of Co-Fe films as well varied with the additive. Maltose greatly inhibits deposition in the initial stages of the deposition process in comparison to sodium saccharin and saccharin, where an average deposition rate of 360 A/min was observed. The magnetic properties of the deposited films were investigated by measuring the Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) with regard on the effect of film thickness on easy-axis coercivity. Depending on the additive used, either no dependence or an increase in coercivity values with decreasing film thickness was observed. In the latter case, the Néel coefficient was calculated. The effect of thermal post-treatments on easy-axis coercivity was also determined. Thermal post-treatments lowered coercivity of films having thickness higher than about 1000 A, while they induced an increase in easy-axis coercivity in thinner films. Finally, AFM studies on the surface roughness and grain size were carried out to correlate coercivity to surface morphology.

 
 
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