Electrochemical cell for in situ electrodeposition of magnetic thin films in a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer

Stefan Topolovec; Heinz Krenn; Roland Würschum

doi:10.1063/1.4922462

Electrochemical cell for in situ electrodeposition of magnetic thin films in a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer

Rev Sci Instrum. 2015 Jun;86(6):063903. doi: 10.1063/1.4922462.

Authors

Stefan Topolovec¹, Heinz Krenn², Roland Würschum¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Materials Physics, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 16, 8010 Graz, Austria.
² Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 5, 8010 Graz, Austria.

PMID: 26133846
DOI: 10.1063/1.4922462

Abstract

An electrochemical cell is designed and applied for in situ electrodeposition of magnetic thin films in a commercial SQUID magnetometer system. The cell is constructed in such a way that any parasitic contribution of the cell and of the substrate for electrodeposition to the magnetic moment of the deposited film is reduced to a minimum. A remanent minor contribution is readily taken into account by a proper analysis of the detected signal. Thus, a precise determination of the absolute magnetic moment of the electrodeposited magnetic film during its growth and dissolution is achieved. The feasibility of the cell design is demonstrated by performing Co electrodeposition using cyclic voltammetry. For an average Co film thickness of (35.6 ± 3.0) atomic layers, a magnetic moment per Co atom of (1.75 ± 0.11) μ(B) was estimated, in good agreement with the literature bulk value.