The electromagnetic shielding of Ni films deposited on cenosphere particles by magnetron sputtering method

Ni-coated cenosphere particles were successfully fabricated by an ultrasonic-assisted magnetron sputtering equipment. Their surface morphology and microstructure were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FE-SEM results indicate that the Ni films coated by magnetron sputtering are uniform and compact. Ni film uniformity was related with the sputtering power and a large uniform film could be achieved at lower sputtering power. XRD results imply that the Ni film coated on cenospheres was a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure and the crystallization of film sample increases with increasing the sputtering power. The electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) of Ni-coated cenosphere particles were measured to be 4–27 dB over a frequency range 80–100 GHz, higher than those of uncoated cenosphere particles. The higher sputtering power and Ni film thickness are the higher EMI SE of the specimens. Ni-coated cenosphere particles are most promising alternative candidates for millimeter wave EMI shielding due to their lightweight, low cost, ease of processing, high floating time, good dispersion and tunable conductivities as compared with typical electromagnetic wave countermeasure materials.