The effect of off-time and annealing on the magnetic behavior of CoxSn1-x alloy nanowires

CoxSn1-x alloy nanowires were ac-pulse electrodeposited into the highly ordered alumina template in the same electrolyte concentration. The effect of off-time between pulses (0, 20, 50, 100 and 200 ms) on the magnetic properties and microstructure of the CoxSn1-x nanowires was investigated. Using a single electrodeposition bath, Sn content increased in the range of 3-55 at.% with increasing the off-time. Improving hcp-Co (002) crystalline orientation with increasing the off-time was the main source to increase the coercivity of as-deposited alloy nanowires. Segregation of magnetic grains by Sn element led to improve the coercivity of the annealed samples. Existence of non-magnetic Sn prevented the oxidation of magnetic grains thereby saturation magnetization of the annealed samples was unchanged. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.