Effects of Cr Doping Concentration on Structural, Morphology, Mechanical and Magnetic Properties of Electrodeposited NiCoCr Thin Films

In this report, effects of Cr doping on structural, morphological, mechanical and magnetic properties of Ni–Co–Cr alloy thin films have been prepared by electrodeposition method with different concentration. The influence of Cr substitution on the formation of phases, structure, morphology, hardness and magnetic properties of the electrodeposited films are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Vickers hardness tester (VHT) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The SEM micrographs of the electrodeposited films with different concentration of Cr have no micro-cracks with uniform surface morphology. The predominant peaks in XRD spectra of Ni–Co–Cr alloy thin films reveal nanostructure. The VHT result clearly showed that thin films coated with high concentration of Cr have highest hardness value. The magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization and coercivity influenced more by varying the concentration of Cr.