Ar-sputtered Pt/Co multilayers with large anisotropy energy and coercivity

Author

Carcia, P.F. ; Reilly, M. ; Li, Z.G. ; van Kesteren, H.W.

Author_Institution

DuPont Central Res. & Dev., Wilmington, DE, USA

Volume

30

Issue

6

fYear

1994

fDate

11/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

4395

Lastpage

4397

Abstract

We have discovered a process for Ar-sputtering Pt/Co multilayers, a candidate for high density magneto-optical recording medium, so that they have large anisotropy energy (K_eff ~1.2×10⁷ erg/cm³-Co) and large coercivity (H_c ~3.5 kOe) simultaneously. To achieve these improved properties the multilayers were sputtered on granular Pt underlayers, made by etching thin Pt layers, initially 20-40 Å thick. Plan-view transmission electron microscopy revealed that the microstructures of Pt/Co multilayers, grown on etched-Pt underlayers, was also granular with excellent (111)-fcc texture. Both K_eff and H_c were optimized, when the (111)-fcc texture was a maximum

Keywords

Kerr magneto-optical effect; cobalt; coercive force; ferromagnetic materials; magnetic anisotropy; magnetic multilayers; magneto-optical recording; platinum; sputter deposition; sputtered coatings; transmission electron microscopy; (111)-fcc texture; Ar; Ar-sputtering process; Pt-Co; Pt/Co multilayers; anisotropy energy; coercivity; high density magneto-optical recording medium; magneto-optical Kerr effect; plan-view transmission electron microscopy; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Argon; Coercive force; Magnetic films; Magnetic multilayers; Magnetooptic recording; Nonhomogeneous media; Sputter etching; Sputtering; Substrates;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.334099

Filename

334099