Morphology, structure and magnetic study of permalloy films electroplated on silicon nanowires

•Permalloy deposits were elaborated by electrochemical process onto silicon nanowires (SiNWs).•SEM micrographs reveal the formation of SiNWs and clearly show a change in the morphology with the deposition potential.•The magnetization easy axis was found to be in the plane of samples.

We report the effect of deposition potential on the morphology, structure and magnetic properties of Ni80Fe20 (Permalloy: Py) deposits, elaborated by electrochemical process onto silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The morphology of SiNWs and Py/SiNWs were performed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM micrographs reveal the formation of SiNWs and clearly show a change in the morphology with the deposition potential. The analysis of X-ray diffraction spectra shows a change in the texture with the deposition potential. The grain size, the lattice parameter and the strain were studied as a function of the deposition potentials. From hysteresis loops, we have shown that the magnetization easy axis is the plane of the samples.