Pulse electrodeposition of Co1−xZnx nanowire arrays: Magnetic improvement through electrolyte concentration, off-time between pulses and annealing

Using different electrolyte compositions and varying the off-time between pulses, Co1xZnx nanowire arrays were fabricated by ac pulse electrodeposition. The effect of deposition parameters on alloy contents was investigated by studying the microstructures and magnetic properties of as-deposited and annealed Co1xZnx nanowires. It is shown that Zn content in CoZn nanowires exponentially increases by increasing the zinc ions in the electrolyte. The Zn content initially increases to a maximum by increase in off-time between pulses and then falls off. Adding a certain amount of Zn to Co led to form amorphous CoZn nanowires. A significant increase in magnetization, coercivity and squareness of CoZn nanowires was observed after annealing. The rate of increase in magnetization of annealed samples was seen to be inversely proportional to their initial magnetization. Improvement of magnetic properties of annealed samples may be caused by magnetic cluster formation and pinning effect.