Influence of bath composition on the electrodeposition of cobalt-molybdenum amorphous alloy thin films

Cobalt-molybdenum (Co-Mo) amorphous alloy thin films were deposited on copper substrates by the electrochemical method at pH 4.0. Among the experimental electrodeposition parameters,only the concentration ratio of molybdate to cobalt ions ([MoO₄^2-]/[Co²⁺]) was varied to analyze its influence on the mechanism of induced cobalt-molybdenum codeposition. Voltammetry was one of the main techniques,which was used to examine the voltammetric response,revealing that cobalt-molybdenum codeposition depended on the nature of the species in solution. To correlate the type of the film to the electrochemical response,various cobalt-molybdenum alloy thin films obtained from different [MoO₄^2-]/[Co²⁺] solutions were tested. Crack-free homogeneous films could be easily obtained from the low molybdate concentrations ([MoO₄^2-]/[Co²⁺]≈0.05) applying low deposition potentials. Moreover,the content of molybdenum up to 30wt% could be obtained from high molybdate concentration; in this case,the films showed cracks. The formation of these cracked films could be predicted from the observed distortions in the curves of electric current-time (j-t) deposition transients. The films with amorphous structure were obtained. The hysteresis loops suggested that the easily magnetized axis was parallel to the surface of the films. A saturation magnetization of 137 emu·g^-1 and a coercivity of 87 Oe of the film were obtained when the deposition potential was -1025mV,and [ MoO₄^2-]/[Co²⁺] was 0.05 in solution,which exhibited a nicer soft-magnetic response.