Effect of film thickness on properties of electrodeposited Ni-Co films

A series of Ni-Co films with different thicknesses was produced by using the electrodeposition technique and their microstructural, magnetic and magnetotransport properties were investigated. The X-ray (XRD) diffraction measurements showed that the films have the face centered cubic structure and the preferential orientations of the films were in the order of (1 1 1), (2 2 0) and (2 2 0) for the films with 1, 2 and 4 mu m thicknesses, respectively. The magnetic measurements revealed that the coercivity decreased from 52 Oe to 37 Oe due to the regular transition of preferential orientation from (1 1 1) to (2 2 0) with increasing film thickness. The study demonstrated that magnetic properties of the films changed according to the microstructural properties. Magnetoresistance investigations exhibited that all films have anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR). (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.