A study of magnetic properties: FexCo1−x alloy nanowire arrays

Highly ordered arrays of FexCo1−x (x=0–1.0, nominally) alloy nanowire were prepared by electrodepositing Fe2+ and Co2+ into the porous anodic aluminum oxide (PAO) templates. XRD experiments proved that the crystal structure of alloy nanowire was bcc. The magnetic properties of FexCo1−x nanowire arrays showed strong magnetic anisotropy, whose easy axis was parallel to the nanowires. Suitable annealing temperature caused coercivity and squareness of sample to increase rapidly, which was higher than those of as-prepared samples. The change in coercivity and squareness of all samples was discussed in detail. The magnetic reversal mechanism may be attributed to localized nucleation based on Zeng’s theory [J. Appl. Phys. 87 (2000) 4718].