Fabrication and magnetic characteristics of electrodeposited FeCr nanowire arrays

•Fe100-xCrx (3 ≤ x ≤ 50) NW arrays were fabricated using pulsed ac electrodeposition.•Anomalous electrodeposition of FeCr NWs occurred for Cr concentrations of 6 and 8 mM.•Coercivity and squareness of FeCr NWs showed enhancement compared to pure Fe NWs.•Increasing Cr concentration considerably reduced magnetostatic interaction distribution. Fe-based nanowire (NW) arrays have long been investigated due their potential applications in future-generation magnetic nanodevices. However, very few research studies have considered FeCr NWs so far. Herein, FeCr NW arrays with different compositions are fabricated using a pulsed ac electrodeposition technique in porous anodic alumina templates. The Cr electrolyte concentration changed between 2 and 8 mM, influencing morphological, compositional, structural and magnetic properties. As an additive, the element Cr enhanced coercivity and squareness of Fe NWs, inducing the formation of Fe (200) peak in the crystal structure. As an alloying component, although the Cr element kept the structural and magnetic properties almost constant, it considerably affected the NW length compared to Fe NWs. First-order reversal curve analysis showed significant reductions in magnetostatic interactions when increasing the Cr concentration. In this case, local interactions between the FeCr NW arrays were expected to increase compared to pure Fe NWs.