Fabrication and characterization of nickel nanowires deposited on metal substrate

The present investigation is a part of ongoing systematic study of production and process development of nanometer scale arrays of magnetic wires on metal substrates. Nickel nanowires are grown in ordered anodic alumina templates using galvanostatic electrodeposition. In this paper we report on the growth of nanowires on the electrochemical cell parameters such as bath temperature, pH and time. Focused ion beam analysis revealed heterogeneous growth of nickel nanowires. X-ray diffraction spectrum showed that FCC nickel changed the preferred orientation from (2 2 0) at lower bath temperatures to (2 00) at higher bath temperatures. Magnetic measurement showed that coercive fields were higher for wires with smaller diameters. Magneto-impedance was measured as a function of applied magnetic field and wire diameter. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.