Influence of saccharin on morphology and properties of cobalt thin films electrodeposited over n-Si(100)

The use of additives to improve the quality of electrodeposited magnetic films is of current interest since magnetic films are widely used in data storage devices and sensors. This is a study of the influence of adding sodium saccharin in the electrodeposition of cobalt thin films on silicon, the most widely used material in magnetic recording media. Saccharin was added to the cobalt solution at three different concentrations: 10 g/l, 20 g/l and 50 g/l. The additive caused a morphological, microstructural and magnetic behaviour change in cobalt films. The levelling and brightening effect of saccharin was verified visually and by atomic force microscope. The films became single-phase structured by adding 50 g/l saccharin, on the contrary of the dual-phase structure found in the basic Co solution. The remanent magnetization (Mr) and the coercive field (Hc) of the films were improved and the metallic nuclei size decreased as the saccharin concentration increased.