Electroless deposition of CoPtWP magnetic thin films

CoPtWP magnetic thin films were prepared by electroless deposition. The influence of bath pH, deposition temperature and bath composition on the deposition speed, alloy content, microstructure, and magnetic properties of CoPtWP thin films were investigated. It was found that deposition speed increased gradually with the bath pH and deposition temperature. The cobalt content in the CoPtWP thin films varied from 77 at.% to 85 at.% by controlling the bath pH. The microstructure of CoPtWP thin films was dependent on bath pH and deposition temperature: two mixed structures, face centered cubic (fcc) and hexagonal close packed (hcp), were observed at low pH values and low deposition temperature. With the increase of pH values and deposition temperature, the intensity of fcc (111) peak suppressed gradually. The surface morphology was markedly influenced by bath pH, deposition temperature and bath composition. VSM and MFM measurements revealed that perpendicular coercivity had been increased with the bath pH. Unique hard magnetic properties of CoPtWP thin films with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were obtained at 90 °C and bath pH 13.0.