Structure, Morphology And Magnetic Properties Of Electrodeposited Ni Films

Ni thin films have been electrodeposited on n-Si (100) substrates for different deposition times at a fixed potential of 2V. The as-elaborated films have been characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). From RBS spectra, we have extracted the Ni film thicknesses, t(nm), which ranges from 105 nm to 710 nm. The analysis of XRD spectra shows the existence of a strong ⟨111⟩ texture for all film thicknesses. The strain values εhkl are negative for all Ni films indicating that they are under compressive stresses. The grains size, 〈D(Å)〉, increases to reach a maximum for t=465nm then decreases again with increasing t(nm). From AFM images, we have shown that the films become progressively smoother with increasing thickness. We have shown that the coercive field measured in parallel geometry, HC|, increases with increasing thickness.