Preparation of CoP films by ultrasonic electroless deposition at low initial temperature

Electroless depositio n technology has b een c ons idered as a kind of common ways to obt ain cobalt alloyfilms. However, in order to get cobalt alloy films, high temperature ( 35 3 K ) is necess ary during the electroless deposition process which will increase costs and energy consumption. Ultrasonic was introduced during electroless plating process to obtain cobalt alloy films at lower initial temperature. It was found that the cobalt thin films could be prepared at lower initial temperature ( 323 K) with the introduction of ultrasonic. Therefore, different powers of ultrasonic were applied during the electroless deposition process to prepare CoP thinfilm soncopper substrates from an alkaline bath in this investigation. The effects of different powers of ultrasonic on deposition rate, surface morphology, anticorrosion performance and magnetic property of films were studied. It was found that the deposition rate increased gradually with the rise inultrasonic powers due to cavitation phenomenon. All the CoP films presented the typical spherical nodular structures with the impact of ultrasonic. Smaller and regulars haped structures could be observed when the films were deposited with higher power of ultrasonic which contributed directly to enhancemen to fanticorrosion performance. Saturation magnetization and coercivity of thin films increased gradually with the rise in ultrasonic powers during the electroless deposition process due to the higher amounts of cobalt.