Electrodeposition of iron–palladium thin films

FePd thin films were electrodeposited from ammonium citrate complex baths. The effects of various electrodeposition and post heat treatment conditions including pH, current density, bath concentrations, substrates and annealing temperature on composition, material, and magnetic properties were systematically investigated. In these baths, the deposited iron content increased linearly with an increase in current density from 1 to 5 mA cm−2 producing films with compositions extending from Fe7Pd93 to Fe91Pd9. Magnetic saturation (MS) of electrodeposited FePd thin films linearly increased with increase in deposited iron content (i.e. ∼1.8 T for Fe82Pd18 and ∼0.1 T for Fe19Pd81) which is similar to its bulk counterparts. The effects of post-heat treatment on the phase and crystal structure of near equiatomic FePd electrodeposits (i.e. Fe48Pd52) was investigated by subjecting electrodeposits to different annealing temperatures from 400 to 600 °C under reducing environment. L10 FePd phase was formed from nanocrystalline FePd solid solution and the crystallinity improved with increasing annealing temperatures.