Mössbauer and XRD study of pulse plated Fe–P and Fe–Ni thin layers

⁵⁷Fe conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, electrochemical and magnetic measurements were used to study pulse electroplated Fe–P and Ni–Fe coatings. XRD and ⁵⁷Fe CEMS measurements revealed the amorphous character of the novel pulse plated Fe–P alloys. CEM spectra indicated significant differences in the short range order and in the magnetic anisotropy between the Fe–P deposits pulse plated at medium long deposition time (t _on?=?2 ms), with short relaxation time (t _off?=?9 ms) and low current density (I _p?=?0.05 Acm^?2) or at short deposition time (t _on?=?1 ms) with long relaxation time (t _off?=?250 ms) and high current density (I _p?=?1.0 Acm^?2). The broad peaks centred around the fcc reflections in XRD of the pulse plated Ni-22 wt.% Fe deposit reflected a microcrystalline Ni–Fe alloy with a very fine, 5–8 nm, grain size. The CEM spectrum of the pulse plated Ni-22 wt.% Fe coating corresponded to a highly disordered solid solution alloy containing a minute amount of ferrihydrite. Extreme favourable soft magnetic properties were observed with these Ni–Fe and Fe–P pulse plated thin layers.