Giant magneto-impedance effect of magnetron sputtered Ni₈₀Fe₂₀/SiO₂/Cu composite wires

In this work, Ni₈₀Fe₂₀/Cu and Ni₈₀Fe₂₀/SiO₂/Cu composite wires of Cu core 100 μm in diameter and coated with a layer of Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ were produced by RF magnetron sputtering. In order to obtain a uniform coating, the wires were spun during sputtering. The influences of the magnetic coating and insulator thickness on the GMI effect of the composite wires were investigated. The results showed that the film thickness has a significant effect on the magnitude and the optimum frequency of the GMI effect. After the addition of an insulator layer, the MI ratio of the composite wires was observed to change with varying thickness of the insulator layer. This observed trend was attributed to the interaction between the conductive layer and the high-permeability magnetic coating.