Magnetic anisotropy and its thickness dependence for NiFe alloy films electrodeposited on polycrystalline Cu substrates

The thickness dependence of magnetic properties of NiFe alloys electrodeposited on polycrystalline copper substrates has been investigated. In order to see how the film thickness affects their properties, the films with various thicknesses were deposited by keeping the cathode potential at -1.5V vs. the saturated calomel reference electrode (SCE). Magnetic measurements show that the magnetic properties are very sensitive to the film thicknesses and, the easy axis of all films is in the film plane. The results showed that the 1 and 2 mu m thick NiFe films are anisotropic and the degree of their anisotropy depends on film thickness whereas those deposited at the thickness of 3 mu m show an isotropic magnetic behaviour. It is also found that the increase of the nickel content when increasing their thickness results in an increase in the coercivity values. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.