Pulsed electrodeposition and magnetism of two-dimensional assembly of controlled-size Co particles on Si substrates

We present an extremely simple and inexpensive way to obtain controlled-size and density Co metallic particles on Si(1 1 1) using electrodeposition. When unpatterned substrates are used, the particle density and size can be controlled by adjusting the pulse frequency and the total deposition time. Randomly arranged cobalt particles with diameters of few tens of nanometres are obtained for short deposition times. Continuing the deposition, the particle size and density can be increased until coalescence. Magnetic force microscopy images show magnetically coupled/uncoupled particles depending on the size and distance between them. For small decoupled particles, no in-plane uniaxial anisotropy is found, in agreement with transmission electron microscopy observations which show randomly oriented single crystal particles. As the particle coalescence increases, the in-plane anisotropy evaluated from magnetization loops increases as well. When deposited on focused ion beam patterned substrates, well organized nanoparticles with adjustable magnetic anisotropy are obtained. Ferromagnetic resonance measurements performed on these samples reveal that the magnetic anisotropy originates mainly from the particle shape.