Epitaxial growth and magnetic anisotropy of electrodeposited Ni and Co thin films grown on n-type GaAs

Summary form only given. Ferromagnetic films on semiconductors can be used in the fabrication of magnetic sensors, memories, and novel devices based on spin-dependent transport phenomena. Electrochemical deposition offers some advantages with respect to UHV techniques for the growth of these structures, such as the low temperature processing, which can limit the interdiffusion between the film and substrate, thus creating well defined interfaces. We have studied the electrochemical growth and magnetic anisotropy of Ni and Co on [001]- and [011]-oriented n-GaAs.