Magnetic Properties and Film Structure of Multiple-Structure Multilayered Co/Pd Films

Co/Pd, Co/Pt and Co/Au multilayer films exhibit large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. We studied multiple-structure, multilayer Co/Pd films, composed of a number of thin multilayer Co/Pd films with unity squareness ratio, stacked in a periodic structure, separated by thin nonmagnetic metallic Pd film layers. The magnetization curves of multiple-structure, multilayer films have multistage shapes, caused by differences in coercive force of each of the Co/Pd film layers. X-ray diffraction was used to study the structure of multiple-structure multilayer films. Theoretical calculations of X-ray diffraction patterns agree with the experimental results.