Dependence of magnetoelastic anistropy on Ni-sublayer thickness in Ni/Pd nanomultilayers

We have investigated the dependence of magnetoelastic anisotropy energy on the Ni-sublayer thickness in Ni/Pd nanomultilayers to examine the contribution of magnetoelastic anisotropy to perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) observed in Ni/Pd nanomultilayers. Magnetoelastic anisotropy energy was quantitatively determined by delicate in situ stress and ex situ magnetostriction coefficient measurements. It was found that the magnetoelastic anisotropy for the samples prepared at 2-mTorr Ar sputtering pressure is largely dependent on the Ni-sublayer thickness: the magnetoelastic anisotropy is varied from 4.6×10⁵ to -0.8×10⁵ erg/cm³. However the magnetoelastic anisotropy for the samples prepared at 7 mTorr is nearly constant with varying the Ni sublayer thickness: the magnetoelastic anisotropy of 3.5(±0.7)×10⁵ erg/cm³ is observed, irrespective of the Ni-sublayer thickness