Direct Writing of Shape-Gradient Magnetic Alloy Microwire Arrays with Meniscus-Confined Electrodeposition Process

Abstract

Gradient magnetic micro/nanowire arrays have attracted widespread attention due to their interesting properties. However, fabricating such an ordered array of gradient micro/nanowires with controllable diameters and compositions is still a great challenge to most of the current methods. Here, meniscus-confined electrodeposition (MCED) technique is adopted for the rapid prototyping of the shape-gradient magnetic Cu/Co-alloy microwire arrays by adjusting the printing speed continuously, which provides a novel idea for the preparation and performance research of shape-gradient magnetic alloy microwire arrays with well-defined structures. It is found that the key to fabricating controllable gradient alloy micro/nano structures by increasing the printing speed is to continuously stretch the meniscus within the stable range of the meniscus. In the range of incremental speed in this study, the shape-gradient magnetic alloy wires with stable and uniform compositions and dense internal structures can be successfully prepared, and the gradient ratio can be adjusted from 0 to about 0.025. Compared with the uniform-diameter array, the shape-gradient magnetic alloy array shows an improvement in remanence and coercive force.