AbstractThe structural and corresponding magnetic properties of Ni/Cu films sputtered at low and high deposition rates were investigated as there is a limited number of related studies in this field. 5[Ni(10 nm)/Cu(30 nm)] multilayer thin films were deposited using two DC sputtering sources at low (0.02 nm/s) and high (0.10 nm/s) deposition rates of Ni layers. A face centered cubic phase was detected for both films. The surface of the film sputtered at the low deposition rate has a lot of micro-grains distributed uniformly and with sizes from 0.1 to 0.4 μm. Also, it has a vertical acicular morphology. At high deposition rate, the number of micro-grains considerably decreased, and some of their sizes increased up to 1 μm. The surface of the Ni/Cu multilayer deposited at the low rate has a relatively more grainy and rugged structure, whereas the surface of the film deposited at the high rate has a relatively larger lateral size of surface grains with a relatively fine morphology. Saturation magnetisation, Ms, values were 90 and 138 emu/cm3 for deposition rates of 0.02 and 0.10 nm/s, respectively. Remanence, Mr, values were also found to be 48 and 71 emu/cm3 for the low and high deposition rates, respectively. The coercivity, Hc, values were 46 and 65 Oe for the low and high Ni deposition rates, respectively. The changes in the film surfaces provoked the changes in the Hc values. The Ms, Mr, and Hc values of the 5[Ni(10 nm)/Cu(30 nm)] films can be adjusted considering the surface morphologies and film contents caused by the different Ni deposition rates.
Annealing Effect of Interface in Nitrogen and Magnetic Properties of Pt/Co Multilayer Thin Films
