Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of SmCo5 Film with Perpendicular Anisotropy

SmCo₅ is a potential material for ultra high density magnetic recording media due to its high magnetocrystalline anisotropy of about 10⁸ erg/cc. Although it cannot be considered for media applications due to its poor corrosion resistantance, a recent study by Asahi et al. reported that the corrosion resistance can be improved substantially by the addition of Cu. Furthermore, the SmCo₅ film on the Cu underlayer with a Ti seedlayer was reported to show strong perpendicular anisotropy and high coercivity (Hc) even though the film morphology is continuous. In this study, we have investigated the relationship between the microstructure and the magnetic properties of the SmCo₅ film on the Cu underlayer with the Ti seedlayer to understand the mechanism of the high Hc.