Abstract

An automated system was built for the electrodeposition of binary multilayers using two electrochemical cells, which allows the number and thickness of successive layers to be programmed and executed by moving the substrate and immersing it into the corresponding bath, with predetermined current and deposition time values. This system was used for the fabrication of planar magnetic Co/Cu (magnetic/non-magnetic) multilayers with layers of nanometric thickness. These multilayers were characterized by obtaining Auger depth composition profiles, as well as line composition profiles in images of the footprint left on the sample surface by sputtering with a focused Ar+ beam. For the magnetization measurements in the flat samples, as a function of the in-plane applied magnetic field, an 860 nm thick Co film deposited on a Cu substrate was prepared as a reference sample. Three other samples were prepared with this same amount of Co, but distributed into 20 layers of 43 nm each, separated respectively from each other by 22, 11 and 5 nm-thick Cu layers. The obtained magnetization results suggests with an antiferromagnetic coupling between successive Co layers when the separation between them is 5 nm of Cu.