The Effect of the Crystal Structure of Ni and Cu Layers in Ni/Cu Multilayers Prepared with Multi-Constant Current Pulse on Their Wear Resistance Property

Abstract

To improve the wear resistance of Ni/Cu multilayer films, Ni and Cu layers were electrochemically formed by applying multi-constant current pulse. The wear resistance of Ni/Cu multilayers was improved with the increase in the number of pulses which can cause thin Cu layer formation during Ni deposition. The cross-sectional observation of the Ni/Cu multilayer samples with SEM and TEM, and XRD measurement indicated that the reason for the improvement of the wear resistance of Ni/Cu multilayer films prepared with multi-constant current pulse is because smaller Ni/Cu multilayer structure was formed in Ni layer of the Ni/Cu multilayer and because Ni layer was constructed with smaller crystals with increasing in the number of pulse.