The Relationship Between Coercivity and the Structure and Composition of Electroless Cobalt-Phosphorus Films

Abstract

Electroless cobalt‐phosphorus films were prepared under varying conditions of temperature, hypophosphite concentration, total concentration, time, and pH to determine the relationship between coercivity, structure, and chemical composition of the films. It was found that coercivity increases with increasing percentage of phosphorus content. The thickness effect on coercivity is complex and dependent upon the phosphorus concentration. The preferred orientation of the films is related to phosphorus concentration. Films with phosphorus weight per cent smaller than 2 exhibit, on the average, a normal orientation of the c‐axis to the substrate; those with higher per cent phosphorus generally have the c‐axis parallel to the substrate.