Electrodeposition of Cu/Ni compositionally modulated multilayers by the dual-plating bath technique

SUMMARYElectrodeposition of Cu/Ni Compositionally Modulated Multilayers (CMM) has been attempted by the dual-plating bath technique. In a very simple set-up using a manual transfer of the substrate from one bath to another, multilayers with sublayer thicknesses of 100, 25 and 5 nm have been deposited. Cross-sectional scanning, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray texture measurements have been used to characterize the samples. A number of problems encountered in the deposition of a good quality CMM have been identified. The possibility of improving the quality of the layered structure through the selection of appropriate plating parameters has been demonstrated. It has been shown how the electrocrystallization of thin copper layers differs quite markedly from that of thin nickel layers.