Crystal structure and coercivity of electrodeposited nickel films

We report on an experimental study on electrodeposited nanocrystalline nickel films. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopies reveal granular structure of the films with varying grain size and surface roughness in dependence on deposition conditions. In term of magnetic properties all the fabricated films are isotropic. We define magnetization reversal occurring through the non-coherent magnetization rotation where the average grain size is comparable to the width of Bloch domain walls (DW). For those film with a greater grain size, the remagnetization processes take place due to the non-coherent magnetization vectors rotation and DW displacement in the grains.