Nanostructural effects and interface magnetism in Co/Pd multilayers

Authors

Ping He, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Z.-S. Shan, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
John A. Woollam, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

May 1993

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. J. Applied Physics 73, 5954 (1993). ©1993 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://jap.aip.org/jap/.

Abstract

A series of Co/Pd multilayers were made by dc magnetron sputter deposition on Al foil substrates. For these multilayered samples, Co layer thicknesses were less than 4 Å and Pd layers were varied from 4 to 22 Å. Sputtering rates were controlled by either sputtering power (10–50 W) or Ar sputtering pressure (3–15 mTorr). In both cases, lower deposition rates yielded higher perpendicular coercivity up to 2.6 kOe. Structures of the samples were studied using conventional θ -2θ x-ray diffractometry (XRD). It has been found that magnetic properties such as coercivity and saturation magnetization are sensitive to interfacial structures. A nanostructural model including interfacial parameters such as alloy layer composition is discussed and compared with the magnetization data. Both XRD and magnetization measurements show that the interfaces become more diffuse at higher sputtering pressures. Journal of Applied Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.