Amorphous forming ability of Co-X (X=Cr, Mo, W) magnetic thin films

Co-X (X=Cr, Mo, W) magnetic thin films were prepared by using DC magnetron sputtering, and their structures were examined by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The amorphous forming ability (AFA) of the three alloy systems was discussed based on thermodynamic calculation and experiments. The results show that the Co-Mo thin films exhibit the largest AFA among them, and the Co-W thin films are condition-dependent amorphous while the Co-Cr thin films are hard to be amorphous, which is consistent with the thermodynamic calculation. The difference in AFA for the alloys of these three systems is finally ascribed to three main factors: differences in electronegativity, electron density and atomic size between Co and X elements.