Electrochemical nucleation and growth of Co and CoFe alloys on Pt/Si substrates

Electrochemical nucleation and growth of Co and CoFe alloys on Pt/Si(1 0 0) surface from watts (mixed chloride sulfate) baths were studied by voltammetric, chronoamperometric and AFM measurements. The CoFe alloys were deposited from solution with molar ratio of (1/1) and (10/1). The Scharifker and Hills model was employed to analyse the current transients. For both Co and CoFe (10/1) alloys the nucleation was a good agreement with the instantaneous model followed by 3D diffusion-limited growth. Inversely, for CoFe (1/1) alloy the nucleation was an agreement with the progressive model. It is evident that the compositions of the electrolyte influence greatly the type of nucleation. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) images revealed a compact and a granular structure of the electrodeposited Co layers and CoFe alloys.