Analyses of stacking fault density in Co-alloy thin films by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

Author

Ishikawa, Akira ; Sinclair, Robert

Author_Institution

Data Storage & Retrieval Syst. Div., Hitachi Ltd., Odawara, Japan

Volume

32

Issue

5

fYear

1996

fDate

9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3605

Lastpage

3607

Abstract

The density of stacking faults in Co-alloy thin films has been analyzed to study the effect of the fault density on the magnetic properties. The stacking fault density is measured using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with a Ta or Pt content of 2-8 at.%. The average number of the faults which exist in one Co unit cell is 0.1-0.2. The stacking fault density increases with the increase of Ta or Pt content. The fault densities for the CoCrPt films are 10-30% higher than those of the CoCrTa films. Substrate biasing slightly increases the stacking fault density. The influence of the crystal perfection on the anisotropy field seems small compared to other effects such as an in-plane strain

Keywords

chromium alloys; cobalt alloys; ferromagnetic materials; magnetic anisotropy; magnetic thin films; platinum alloys; stacking faults; tantalum alloys; transmission electron microscopy; Co-alloy thin film; CoCrPt; CoCrTa; anisotropy field; crystal perfection; high-resolution transmission electron microscopy; in-plane strain; magnetic properties; stacking fault density; substrate biasing; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Chromium; Density measurement; Magnetic analysis; Magnetic films; Magnetic properties; Stacking; Substrates; Transistors; Transmission electron microscopy;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.538704

Filename

538704