(Keynote) Science and Art of Additives for Electrodeposition of Soft High Magnetic Moment Alloys

Current trends demonstrate that electrodeposited soft high magnetic moment (SHMM) alloys will be the material of choice for fabrication of future magnetic nanostructures in magnetic recording, microelectronics, and MEMS technologies. The research in these areas is driven by the need for ultimately soft magnetic alloys with high magnetic moment, high electrical resistivity, good corrosion resistance and low stress levels. A common approach to achieve these properties is use and formulation of different additives. Our understanding of their effects/action is essential and has to be improved and quantified 1,2 . In this talk, a review of the current state of the art in understanding of the additive action will be presented. This includes additive incorporation mechanisms 3,4 and their relation to observed properties of SHMM alloys (CoFe, CoNiFe, and NiFe). Additive adsorption phenomenon is critically reviewed in correlation to stress in SHMM alloys, grain size, and surface morphology. Results and analytical models describing the effect of additives as a function of their formulation in the plating baths are discussed. References: 1) E. I. Cooper, C. Bonhote, J. Heidmann, Y. Hsu, P. Kern, J. W. Lam, M. Ramasubramanian, N. Robertson, L. T. Romankiw and H. Xu, IBM J. Res. & Dev., 49, 103 (2005) 2) S. Riemer, J. Gong, M. Sun, I. Tabakovic. J. Electrochem. Soc., 156, D439, (2009). 3) S. R. Brankovic , R. Haislmaier, and N. Vasiljevic, Electrochemical and Solid State Lett. 10(6), D67 (2007). 4) J. George, S.-E. Bae, D. Litvinov, J. Rancheler, and S. R. Brankovic, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 155 (9) D589 (2008).