Life of Magnetic Electroless Co-P Thin Films

Effective life of electroless Co-P (2.5 wt%) thin films of about 100 nm in thickness was evaluated for both magnetic characteristics and corrosion. The Co-P films were grown on rigid Al substrates overcoated with nonmagnetic Ni-P thick films and were finally covered with electroplated Rh thin films of 120 nm - 180 nm in thickness. The life of the magnetic characteristics was defined as the time to reach 10% deviation from the initial values of H
_c
(coercive force), B
_r
(remanence), and S (squareness of hysteresis loop). The life of the films for corrosion was defined as the induction period of corrosion. An increase of H
_c
was observed above 80°C for isothermal annealing, but B
_r
and S were unchanged. The activation energy of the variation of H
_c
was approximately 0.7 eV below 144°C. The life of magnetic characteristics was estimated to be approximately 4.1 × 10
⁴
- 2.3 × 10
⁵
hrs at 55°C corresponding to the allowable maximum temperature in field service. The life for corrosion was influenced by the quality of Rh films.