The influence of different complexing agents with hydroxycarboxylic acid group on the electrodeposited Co-W thin films has been investigated. Comparison between the polarisation curves shows that the negative shift on the electrodeposition potential increased in the following order: no complexing agent, tartrate, malate, gluconate and citrate. The particular shapes of the jt transients indicate that a nucleation and growth process was involved for the Co-W electrodeposition in the presence of complexing agents investigated. The reduced current transients follow the instantaneous nucleation model for all four complexing agents at the initial stages. Surface morphology, phase composition and magnetic properties were observed by means of field emission SEM, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer respectively. It has been found out that surface morphology and phase composition were markedly affected by the nature of the complexing agents. In the absence of complexing agents and in the presence of citrate, reflections of Co 7 W 6 , Co (1 0 0) and Co (0 0 2) appeared simultaneously. For the deposits obtained from solutions containing malate, there are two main peaks: Co 7 W 6 and Co (0 0 2). In the case of tartrate, two peaks of Co are observed: Co (0 0 2) and Co (1 0 0). Reflections of Co (0 0 2) appeared for the deposits prepared from gluconate baths. Co-W magnetic thin films presented good soft magnetic properties (H c 52 Oe, M s 51403 emu cm 23 ) compared with pure cobalt thin films (1370 emu cm 23 ) when 0?3 mol L 21 citrate was used as complexing agent.

NiFe alloy films were prepared by magnetic electrodeposition method to replace conventional sputtering on a copper substrate. The effects of different magnetic intensities on current efficiency, throwing power and magnetic properties were investigated. Magnetic intensity played a significant role in current efficiency. When the magnetic intensity ranged from 0 to 1?0 T, the current efficiency increased from 68 to 87%. The magnetic field applied during the NiFe electroplating process would destroy the hydration state of ions in aqueous solution to increase the bath conductivity, which induced optimal throwing power. Almost all the deposited films were crystalline and formed peaks of FeNi 3 (111), FeNi 3 (200) and FeNi 3 (220). With the rise on magnetic intensity, the intensity of all three FeNi 3 peaks started to increase gradually, which induced greater crystalline. High magnetic intensity could help to obtain a smooth surface of NiFe films with small and dense particles. When the magnetic intensity ranged from 0 to 1 T, the saturation magnetisation of NiFe increased from 76 to 106 A m 2 kg 21 . However, the largest coercivity (7722 A m 21 ) could be achieved when the magnetic intensity is equal to 0?4 T.

Ultrasonic was introduced during pulse plating process to prepare NiFeP alloy films. Effects of different duty ratios and ultrasonic powers on composition, microstructure and magnetic properties of films were investigated. With the rise in duty ratios, the amount of nickel increased gradually. Higher ultrasonic power could result in larger contents of iron in NiFeP alloy films. That was because nickel reduction was potential controlled while iron reduction was diffusion controlled during the pulse plating process. Almost all the deposited films were crystalline and formed peaks of FeNi 3 (111), FeNi 3 (200) and FeNi 3 (220). With the increase in duty ratios, the intensity of all three peaks started to decline, which led to worse crystalline and bigger grain sizes. Dissimilar surface morphology could be detected by the condition of different duty ratios and ultrasonic powers. NiFeP films with smaller grain size and smooth surface could be obtained when a higher power of ultrasonic was introduced during the pulse plating process. However, the films with rough and agglomerate nodular structures would be observed with higher duty ratios. Vibration sample magnetometer results showed that the coercivity of NiFeP films ranged from 30 to 150 Oe.

FePt magnetic multilayers were pulse electrodeposited from the mixture of ammonium hexachloroplatinate and iron dichloride in ionic liquids based on glycol (EG) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIC). The chelate effect and electrochemical behaviour of the EMIC with the ions were determined by ultraviolet-visible spectra and cyclic voltammetry respectively. The iron atomic content in the FePt films ranged from 0?4 to 81?0 at-% when deposition potentials changed from 1?0 to 22?0 V(Ag/AgCl) in electrodeposition system with the EG (50 mL), ammonium hexachloroplatinate (25 mM L 21 ), iron dichloride (175 mM L 21 ) and EMIC (25 mM L 21 ) at 393 K. Fe 50 Pt 50 thin films with smooth surface (50 at-% iron layer in FePt film) and the multilayer cross-section were obtained. Fct structural FePt multilayer was obtained based on X-ray diffraction pattern. Magnetic hysteresis loops showed that the multilayer possessed a magnetic anisotropic behaviour.

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