Magnetic anisotropy studies on pulsed electrodeposited Ni/Ag/Ni trilayer

•Ni/Ag/Ni layered film has been prepared using pulsed electrodeposition method.•Crystalline nature of layered films is confirmed using XRD.•Magnetic easy axis is observed to be parallel to the plane of the film.•Magnetic anisotropy change is dependent on number of layers.•Ni/Ag/Ni layered film shows higher anisotropy energy than pure Ni film. The pulsed electrodeposition method was employed for the deposition of pure Ni, Ni/Ag and Ni/Ag/Ni films due to its greater advantages while comparing with other methods. The X-ray diffraction pattern confirms the formation of fcc structure for both nickel and silver. The cross sectional scanning electron microscopy shows the layer formation in Ni/Ag and Ni/Ag/Ni films. The metallic nature of the nickel and silver were also confirmed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The magnetic anisotropy behaviour was studied using vibrating sample magnetometer which gives that the easy axis is in plan of the film for all the film.