Nanoporous metallic templates for embedded magnetic nanostructured films

We demonstrate a metallic template assisted method for realizing out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in electro-deposited Co and Ni films, using highly porous TiN films as templates. TiN films containing high aspect ratio sub-50 nm wide pillars were obtained by controlling film-morphology via gas pressure during sputter deposition of the films. The nanoscale separation between these pillars allowed us to electro-deposit magnetic films on the pillars resulting in high aspect ratio magnetic structures. Co and Ni films grown on such nanostructured TiN films showed a significant coercivity enhancement as compared to planar films. Angular dependence of coercive field and the remnance ratio (Mr/Ms) reveals that, in the ultrathin limit, magnetic films coated onto the nano-pillars are akin to magnetic nanotubes.