Abstract: A number of magnetic and memory signatures are developed for defining the equacy of a coated substrate for memory wire applications. The signatures are determined from sets of films on substrates which characterize good wire and can be used to separate the marginally good from the marginally poor substrate by applying tests at selected steps in the processing of newly coated wire. Separate signatures are established by omitting steps or varying combinations of steps in conventional plating processes and then measuring the magnetic or memory properties from section to section or from bit to bit along the wire.