Magnetic Field Effects on the Microstructural Variation of Electrodeposited Nickel Film

Electrodeposition of nickel on copper （ferro- and paramagnetic metals, respectively） has been carried out from the Watts bath. In view of magnetic properties of the two metals, the deposition has been done in the presence of weak （0.16T） applied magnetic field; the field applied was kept both parallel as well as perpendicular to the current direction. Main objective of the present work is to improve the deposit quality. In this regard effect of applied magnetic field and its orientation on the features of the deposit have been investigated. Characterization of the deposit has been based on the surface morphology of the deposited film, its compactness, size and shape of Ni-grains as well as their growth pattern. Alterations in the structure of deposited layers are seemed by changing the orientation of the applied magnetic field. The observed difference is essentially ascribed to the increase mass transport, decrease diffusion layer thickness near the electrode surface and on the magnetic properties of nickel. A combination of scanning electron microscopy （SEMI） with atomic force microscopy （AFM） has been deployed for morphological studies of electrodeposited nickel.