Enhancement of the coercivity of electrodeposited nickel nanowire arrays

In the present study, the single-crystal Ni nanowire arrays with a preferred growth along the [110] direction have been prepared by the deposition of Ni into the alumina template with nanopores at a current density of 2.0 mA/cm(2). The single-crystal Ni nanowire arrays show a magnetic anisotropy with the easy axis parallel to the nanowires and an enhanced coercivity as compared with the polycrystalline Ni nanowire arrays. A large coercivity of 1110 Oe together with a high remanence M-r = 0.92M(s) is observed for 15-nm diameter single-crystal Ni nanowire arrays. The preferred growth mechanism of the single-crystal nanowires is briefly discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.