Effect of microstructure on coercivity of c-axis in-plane-oriented Co/Cr multilayered films

Authors

D. Wang, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
George C. Hadjipanayis, University of DelawareFollow

Date of this Version

4-15-1991

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. J. Applied Physics 69, 4541 (1991). ©1991 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://jap.aip.org/jap/.

Abstract

The effect of the insertion of nonmagnetic Cr planes on coercivities of thin Co films has been studied in Co/Cr multilayered films. The in-plane coercivity H_c║ can be as high as 1800 Oe and can be adjusted easily, ranging from 650 to 1800 Oe. The large H_c║ is related to the Co(110) in-plane orientation which is induced by a Cr(100) in-plane-oriented underlayer. In addition, it appears that a decreasing saturation magnetization M_s, a decreasing average structural coherence length D in the direction perpendicular to the film, and a narrowing distribution of D are correlated to the increasing in H_c║. The effects of texture, Cr interlayers, D and its distribution, and the Cr underlayer on the magnetic properties are discussed. Journal of Applied Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.