Coaxial metal and magnetic alloy nanotubes in polycarbonate templates by electroless deposition

We present a novel technique for the preparation of coaxial metal and magnetic alloy nanotubes, which is demonstrated for the coaxial nanotubes of Ni/Co and Ni/CoNiFe alloys deposited in activated polycarbonate templates using electroless plating. For each metal or alloy the tube wall thickness was controlled to be less than 100 nm. The process involved two consecutive deposition steps from hypophosphite and/or borane reducing agent based electroless plating solutions. We further characterise the magnetic properties of the ternary magnetic alloy films and coaxial nanotubes. The coaxial tubes show homogenous wall thickness and composition, which is delineated from the magnetic measurements.