Nucleation, growth and properties of Co nanostructures electrodeposited on n-Si(1 1 1)


Khelladi M. R., Mentar L., Azizi A., Kadırgan F., Schmerber G., Dinia A.

APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE, cilt.258, sa.8, ss.3907-3912, 2012 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 258 Sayı: 8
  • Basım Tarihi: 2012
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.12.060
  • Dergi Adı: APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.3907-3912
  • İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In the present work, cobalt thin films deposited directly on n-Si(111) surfaces by electrodeposition in Watts bath have been investigated. The electrochemical deposition and properties of deposits were studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and alternating gradient field magnetometer (AGFM) techniques. The nucleation and growth kinetics at the initial stages of Co studied by current transients indicate a 3D island growth (Volmer-Weber); it is characterized by an instantaneous nucleation mechanism followed by diffusion limited growth. According to this model, the estimated nucleus density and diffusion coefficient are on the order of magnitude of 10(6) cm(-2) and 10(-5) cm(2) s(-1), respectively. AFM characterization of the deposits shows a granular structure of the electrodeposited layers. XRD measurements indicate a small grain size with the presence of a mixture of hcp and fcc Co structures. The hysteresis loops with a magnetic field in the parallel and perpendicular direction and showed that the easy magnetization axis of Co thin film is in the film plane. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.