Core–Shell GaAs-Fe nanowire arrays: fabrication using electrochemical etching and deposition and study of their magnetic properties

Abstract

The preparation of GaAs nanowire templates with the cost-effective electrochemical etching of (001) and (111)B GaAs substrates in a 1M HNO3 electrolyte is reported. The electrochemical etching resulted in the obtaining of GaAs nanowires with both perpendicular and parallel orientations with respect to the wafer surface. Core–shell GaAs-Fe nanowire arrays have been prepared by galvanostatic Fe deposition into these templates. The fabricated arrays have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The magnetic properties of the polycrystalline Fe nanotubes constituting the shells of the cylindrical structures, such as the saturation and remanence moment, squareness ratio, and coercivity, were analyzed in relation to previously reported data on ferromagnetic nanowires and nanotubes.