Fabrication and magnetic properties of Ni–Zn nanowire arrays

Ni–Zn nanowire arrays, with diameters of approximately 60 nm and lengths of around 40 μm, were fabricated by electrodeposition in porous anodic aluminum oxide templates at different electric potentials. X-ray diffraction observations demonstrated that the isolated nanowires had polycrystalline structure and that their phases changed with the deposition potential. The amount of deposited zinc in the nanowires increased with the deposition potential, whereas the amount of nickel decreased. Magnetic measurements showed that there was a gradual change of magnetism from isotropic to anistropic with increasing potential amplitude and that the coercivity reached a maximum value in the nanowire deposited at −1.35 V.