Nanocrystallite electroplated softmagnetic layers

In magnetic sensors and actuators soft magnetic layers serve as flux guides. The experience shows that bulk materials have mostly better magnetic properties than thin film layers. Today materials and their alloys based on Ni, Fe and Co are in use. These materials are deposited by thin film processing using vacuum processes. An alternative procedure is to deposit layers by electroplating. The magnetic properties are depending on numerous influences. One property is the size of the crystals in the magnetic layers. The aim of this project is to adjust the size of the crystallites during the electroplating process and reduce them to nanoscale. By this approach the permeability can be increased. The necessary equipment for the electroplating process is installed at the IMPT. The project should start with collecting information from papers concerning the state of the art and develop a new approach to nanocrystallite softmagnetic layers.