Electroless synthesis of large scale Co–Zn–P nanowire arrays and the magnetic behaviour

Co–Zn–P nanowire arrays have been synthesized by electroless deposition in an anodic alumina membrane (AAM). The images of Co–Zn–P nanowire arrays and single nanowires are obtained by both scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectra (EDS) are employed to study the morphology and chemical composition of the nanowires. The results indicate that Co–Zn–P nanowire arrays are amorphous in structure. The hysteresis loops characterized by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) show that the easily magnetized direction of Co–Zn–P nanowire arrays is parallel to the nanowire arrays and that there exhibits clearly a magnetic anisotropy as a result of the shape anisotropy.