저널

Morphology of porous cobalt electro-deposits was systematically investigated as functions of cobalt precursors in the plating bath and applied cathodic current density with a special focus on cobalt nano-rod formation. It was proved that the concentration of cobalt precursor plays little effect on the morphology of cobalt electro-deposits at relatively low plating current density while it significantly affects the morphology with increasing plating current density. Such a dependence was discussed in terms of the kinetics of two competitive reactions of cobalt reduction and hydrogen evolution. Cobalt nano-rod structure was created at specific ranges of cobalt precursor content and applied cathodic current density, and its diameter and length varied with plating time without notable formation of side branches which is usually found during dendrite formation. Specifically, the nano-rod length was preferentially increased in relative short plating time (<15 s), resulting in higher aspect ratio of nano-rod with plating time. Whereas, both the nano-rod length and diameter were increased nearly at the same level in a prolonged plating time, making the aspect ratio unchanged. From the analysis of crystal structure, it was confirmed that the cobalt nano-rod preferentially grew in the form of single crystal on a dense poly-crystalline cobalt thin film initially formed on the substrate.

Cobalt;Porous structure;Nanorod;Cobalt sulfate;Preferential growth;