Study of the damping behaviour in samples consisting of iron electro-deposited on copper in an ionic liquid

Copper-iron alloys were produced at room temperature by means of electrodeposition of iron on a copper substrate in an ionic liquid (1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium trifluoromethylsulfonate [Py1,4]TfO). Samples with different electrodeposition times were studied using mechanical spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy and magnetic loops techniques. Independent of the electrodeposition time the electrodeposition process leads to the promotion of a thin layer of iron onto the copper surface without iron diffusion into the substrate. The damping spectra for electrosposited samples in the as-electrodeposited state show the characteristic low and intermediate grain boundary damping peaks from copper as well as the solvent grain boundary damping peak from the electrodeposited iron. Thermal annealing at temperatures near 973 K leads to the appearance of Fe particles at the interface between the copper and iron (Cu + α-Fe phase) leading to a new damping peak at around 680 K whose driving force is the diffusion of copper atoms around the second phase particles. •Iron-copper alloys produced by electrodeposition in an ionic liquid at room temperature.•Grain boundaries relaxation for the copper and iron in bi-layered alloys.•Damping peak related to the diffusion of copper atoms around the (alpha-Fe) particles.