Formation and characterization of magnetic multilayer Ni/Cu nanowires

Highly ordered composite nanowires with multilayer of Ni/Cu, have been fabricated by pulsed electrodeposition into nanoporous alumina membrane. The diameter of wires can be easily controlled by pore size of alumina, ranging from 30 to 100 nm. The applied potential and the duration of each potential square pulse determine the thickness of the metal layers. The nanowires have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements. From the result of MFM analysis, the magnetic multilayer nanowires indicate unique magnetic property. The MFM images indicate that every ferromagnetic layer separated by Cu layer was present as single isolated domain like magnet. This technique has potential for use in the measurement and application of magnetic nanodevices.