Preparation and magnetic properties of Ni nanorod arrays

The Ni nanorod arrays have been successfully prepared on the aluminum lattice membrane by magnetron sputtering. The morphologies, phase structures and magnetic properties of the Ni nanorod arrays have been characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer. The results show that the high-density Ni nanorods are vertically aligned on the alumina substrate, and the nanorod arrays are face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal structured. The magnetic measurements indicate the magnetic properties of the arrays are excellently soft-magnetic, and its coercivity changes with the aspect ratio and annealing temperature.