Ni-Fe thin film coated Cu wires for field sensing applications

Abstract

The pulsed-current electrodeposition technique has been used to deposit Ni-Fe thin films on Cu wires, for field sensing applications employing the classical inductive fluxgate technique and the inverse Wiedemann effect. The Ni3Fe and the NiFe thin film compositions were selected, for comparison reasons. Magnetic hysteresis studies suggested that the Ni3Fe-rich specimens were more appropriate as sensing cores, because they exhibited softer magnetic properties and lower magnetostriction. Their fluxgate response was found comparable to the state of the art of fluxgate sensors. Sourcing ac current through the coated Cu wires and capturing their inductive response by means of coils wound around them, the inverse Wiedemann set-up was implemented, yielding promising results for field sensor applications. Copyright © 2007 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.