Co/Cu multilayers were electrodeposited on a brass substrate with a target layer thickness of 4 nm in a single electrolyte, and their magnetic properties and microstructure were investigated. Cross sections of the samples were observed using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction measurements were also conducted. Each sample was composed of columnar crystal grains vertical to the substrate, with each grain having a Co/Cu multilayered structure. During growth of the grains, the layers were bent regularly at specific boundary lines in the cross section and were thus composed of a zigzag multilayered structure. The magnetic properties were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The saturation magnetization and residual magnetization of Co in the sample were close to those for a 500-nm-thick Co layer, whereas the coercivity was significantly larger. The mechanism responsible for this coercivity increase was partly determined to be topological coupling among the Co layers which are single domain and have in-plain magnetic anisotropy.
Co/Cu multilayers were electrodeposited in a single electrolyte using the pulse potential method and the layer thickness was precisely controlled in accordance with Faraday's law. X-ray diffraction revealed that multilayers with layer thicknesses in the range of 25–100 nm consisted of fcc-Co and fcc-Cu phases. For layers thinner than 10 nm, the fcc-Co and fcc-Cu phases merged to form a single crystal phase. When the layers were <1 nm, one diffraction peak of the single crystal phase became proportionally higher as the layer became thinner. The surface structure of multilayers also varied with the layer thickness
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