Characterization of a ferromagnetic porous silicon-based Ni/Si nanocomposite with a novel strong high-field anisotropy

Ferromagnetic (Ni) filaments are embedded into a porous silicon template by an electrochemical deposition process. During cathodic deposition using NiCl2 as electrolyte the channels of the meso-/macroporous silicon structure are filled with metallic Ni. The resulting nanocomposite system consists of silicon as base material as well as of implemented Ni-structures, especially of highly oriented Ni-wires perpendicular to the surface showing an exceptionally high aspect ratio (>300) and is of interest for applications in microtechnology. The length of the Ni-wires is in the range of a few tens of micrometers. Concomitant with the growth of wires, spheres or ellipsoidally shaped particles are formed during the Ni-filling procedure, whose spatial frequency and distribution become tunable. Structural investigations of this system, using SEM and EDX as well as investigations of the magnetic behaviour using SQUID-magnetometry, demonstrate the dependency of the magnetic properties on the filling status of the samples. The hysteresis loops in the low-field regime up to 500 Oe as well as magnetization curves in the high-field range of a few tesla display a strong magnetic anisotropy due to magnetic rearrangements. At fields around 5 T, a decline of the magnetization followed by a steep increase is observed. This magnetic field-induced anisotropy depends on the detailed growth of the Ni within the pores which can be controlled by the deposition process. It is governed by yet unknown antiferromagnetic exchange between the wires, and inherently connected with the shape of the magnetic nano-objects.