Electrochemical Synthesis of Layered Structures

本文主要研究了金属多层样品的电化学合成。四种金属多层膜，钴/铜、铬/铁、铬/钴和铁/铜，最近被显示出巨大的磁阻效应。多层膜是通过精心控制的复杂电化学工艺生产的，以产生特定的层厚度和界面锐度变化。采用高分辨率电子显微镜和计算机成像相结合的方法来检测薄膜的完好性、外延和缺陷结构。径向分布分析详细说明了最近的邻居环境。磁性技术被用来探测界面性质。%这项研究将加强对金属多层膜的加工和性质的理解。这种材料有许多潜在的应用，例如磁头和磁存储元件。

This research is focussed on the electrochemical synthesis of metallic multilayered specimens. Four metallic multilayers, cobalt/copper, chromium/iron, chromium/cobalt, and iron/copper, have been shown recently to exhibit giant magneto-resistance effects. The multilayers are produced through sophisticated electrochemistry processing carefully controlled to produce defined variations in layer thicknesses and interface sharpness. High resolution transmission electron microscopy combined with computer imaging is employed to examine the perfection of the layers, the epitaxy, and defect structure. Radial distribution analysis details nearest neighbor environments. Magnetic techniques are used to probe interface properties. %%% This research should enhance understanding of the processing and nature of metallic multilayers. Such materials have many potential applications, for example, magnetic heads and magnetic storage elements.