Ultrasoft and high magnetic moment CoFe films directly electrodeposited from a B-reducer contained solution

Abstract

A methodology to fabricate ultrasoft CoFe nano-/microfilms directly via electrodeposition from a semineutral iron sulfate solution is demonstrated. Using boron-reducer as the additive, the CoFe films become very soft with high magnetic moment. Typically, the film coercivity in the easy and hard axes is 6.5 and 2.5 Oersted, respectively, with a saturation polarization up to an average of 2.45 Tesla. Despite the softness, these shining and smooth films still display a high-anisotropic field of ∼45 Oersted with permeability up to 10 4. This kind of films can potentially be used in current and future magnetic recording systems as well as microelectronic and biotechnological devices.