| Cu/Ni multilayers have been grown by electrodeposition from single solution with potentiostatic control. Several Cu/Ni samples deposited on (001)-oriented Si and polycrystalline copper plates with different sublayer thickness in the range of 1 to 20 nm were investigated. One series of the multilayers with constant bilayer thickness and two other series with constant Cu or Ni sublayer thickness (and varying Ni or Cu sublayer thickness respectively) were electrodeposited on copper substrates. Some Cu/Ni multilayers were annealed in a vacuum furnace at temperature increasing from 150 °C to 450 °C. X-ray diffraction investigations and SEM observations were used to analyse the modulated structure and determine the bilayer thickness of the nanomultilayers. The SEM and XRD investigations confirmed the layered structure of all deposited samples. The multilayered Cu/Ni coatings exhibit the bigger hardness than single Ni and Cu layers when the thickness of the bilayers is approximately a few nanometers. Maximum of the hardness values were measured when the bilayer thickness was around 10 nm and was about 25% bigger than the Ni single layer hardness. Subsequent anneals led to a significant change in the preferential crystallographic orientation, quality of modulation structure, and size of crystallites. |
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