Role of Cu layer thickness on the magnetic anisotropy of pulsed electrodeposited Ni/Cu/Ni tri-layer

The Ni/Cu/Ni tri-layer film with different thickness of Cu layer was deposited using pulsed electrodeposition method. The XRD pattern of all the films show the formation of fcc structure of nickel and copper. This shows the orientated growth in the (2 2 0) plane of the layered films as calculated from the relative intensity ratio. The layer formation in the films were observed from cross sectional view using FE-SEM and confirms the decrease in Cu layer thickness with decreasing deposition time. The magnetic anisotropy behaviour was measured using VSM with two different orientations of layered film. This shows that increasing anisotropy energy with decreasing Cu layer thickness and a maximum of  −5.13  ×  10⁴ J m⁻³ is observed for copper deposited for 1 min. From the K _eff. t versus t plot, development of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the layered system is predicted below 0.38 µ m copper layer thickness. (paper)