Fabrication of amorphous iron-boron films by electroless plating

Amorphous iron-boron alloy films were fabricated by means of electroless plating, and the film formation mechanism was examined by studying the fabrication conditions. When a copper substrate in contact with an aluminum wire was used, the alloy films with considerably thick thicknesses were obtained. The local battery configuration of the copper substrate and the aluminum wire was considered to be responsible for the film formation. The boron content in the film increased monotonically from 0 at% to 28 at% with increasing the concentration of reducing agent (KBH4). The bath temperature during the plating was found to be a significant parameter for governing the reduction power of the reducing agent and the resultant crystallographic structure of the films.