We report on the effect of thickness on the structural and electrical
properties of permalloy thin films Ni81Fe19 (Py). Permalloy films
were deposited onto Si(100) substrates at room temperature using a KrF
(wavelength of 248 nm, pulse duration of 30 ns) excimer laser at a fluence
of 3 J/cm2. The thickness ranges from 25 nm to 250 nm. The micrographs
reveal the formation of irregular droplets with dimensions between 4.6 μm and 0.24 μm. We show that all samples presented a strong $ \langle 100 \rangle$
texture. The lattice constant (a) monotonously increases with
increasing thickness. Also, we note that for thickness below 127 nm, the
lattice constant (a) is lower than the bulk value, however,
for thickness more than 127 nm, (a) is higher than $a_{\rm bulk}
$. The grain size increases from 30 nm to 54 nm as the thickness increases
from 45 nm to 250 nm. The different contributions to the electrical
resistivity are investigated as a function of the Py thickness.