Dual‐Bath Electrodeposition of Cu/Ni Compositionally Modulated Multilayers

The electrodeposition of Cu/Ni compositionally modulated multilayers with sublayer thickness in the nanometer range has been carried out. The deposition was conducted under galvanostatic conditions using dual‐bath technique. The structure of the multilayers was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and conventional and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Cu/Ni multilayers with distinct and continuous sublayers in the range of 100 to <5 nm can be produced by dual‐bath electrodeposition. Cu and Ni sublayers grow epitaxially on top of one another. The local variation in the growth rate of copper leads to a faceted morphology of the multilayers. The extent of this faceting is reduced as the sublayer thickness is decreased. A surface reaction like oxidation during transfer of the substrate does not adversely affect the crystallographic continuity at the interfaces between sublayers. The thin‐film formation is discussed based on available growth models.