Electrodeposition, characterization and morphological investigations of NiFe/Cu multilayers prepared by pulsed galvanostatic, dual bath technique

NiFe/Cu multilayers were grown sequentially by pulsed electrodeposition on copper (Cu) substrates. The layers were prepared in galvanostatic mode using a dual bath technique. The morphology, thickness, roughness and composition of the layers were studied using scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Analysis showed that the resulting multilayers were continuous layers with a root mean square roughness of 30 nm and a grain size of 20–60 nm. The Cu substrate and the electrodeposited Cu layer were preferentially (200) oriented while the NiFe layers were polycrystalline but with a preferred (200) texture. The thinnest multilayers produced were 20/40, NiFe/Cu, respectively.

Research Highlights► Thin MLs of Cu and Py can be ED utilizing a pulsed-galvanostatic, DBT. ► The resulting multilayers were continuous layers with an rms of 30 nm. ► The smallest average thickness achieved by DBT was 40 nm/20 nm for Cu/NiFe.