Structure and magnetic properties of CoxPb1-x nanowire arrays

Ordered CoxPb1-x nanowire arrays embedded in the porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template have been fabricated by electrodeposition. XRD experiments prove that neither hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) nor face-centered-cubic (fcc) Co peaks are detected when the Co component (x) is below 0.91. The coercivity (H-c) and squareness (M-x/M-s) are found to increase with ferromagnetic Co component and the maximum value is at the position x = 1 (pure Co nanowires). Annealing effects cause H-c and M-r/M-s increase, which surpasses the pure Co nanowires in the 0.2 < x < 0.6 at the annealing temperature of 700degreesC. Microstructure change during annealing process is proposed to explain the magnetic properties change of samples. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.