Characterization of Electrodeposited Ni and Ni-Mo Thin Films by X-ray Diffraction

Electrodeposited Ni and Ni-Mo films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Using a Williamson-Hall technique by X-ray diffraction, the Ni thin film, which shows four Bragg diffraction peaks in the XRD chart, is estimated to have a mean grain size of 30 nm. The Ni-Mo film having a Mo content of 9.6 to 10.6 at. % indicates that the Bragg peaks that exist in the XRD pattern of the Ni thin film disappear in the XRD pattern except for a broad diffraction from a (111) crystallographic plane. An atomic pair distribution function (PDF) calculated from the XRD pattern reveals that the Ni-Mo film has a long-range structural order and contains Mo as a solute atom that substitutes for a Ni atom. The electrodeposited Ni-Mo film is concluded to have a nanocrystalline characteristic comprising a Ni-Ni atomic bond and Ni-Mo atomic bond.