Title :
Ru/Ru-oxide interlayers for CoCrPtO perpendicular recording media
Author :
Kwon, Unoh ; Sinclair, Robert ; Velu, E.M.T. ; Malhotra, Sudhir ; Bertero, Gerardo
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mater. Sci. & Eng., Stanford Univ., CA, USA
Abstract :
A novel Ru/Ru-oxide interlayer structure was investigated to improve intergranular decoupling in a magnetic layer. The effect of this interlayer on the microstructure, and magnetic properties of CoCrPtO perpendicular media is reported. By using a Ru-oxide layer on a conventional Ru layer, the interlayer grain size was 11 nm. The resulting vertical c-axis dispersion of the interlayer was less than 3° with no disruption in epitaxial growth throughout the Ru/Ru-oxide and Ru-oxide/magnetic layer interfaces. Grain clusters in the CoCrPtO magnetic layer were observed to match one-to-one with interlayer grains, and were well isolated from each other by nonmagnetic oxide phase grain boundaries. A high coercivity (over 6.9 kOe) and a nucleation field of -2.8 kOe were obtained with this Ru (26 nm)/Ru-oxide (2 nm) interlayer structure.
Keywords :
cobalt alloys; coercive force; grain boundaries; grain size; magnetic multilayers; magnetic particles; nucleation; perpendicular magnetic recording; ruthenium; transmission electron microscopy; 11 nm; 2 nm; 26 nm; CoCrPtO; CoCrPtO perpendicular media; Ru; Ru/Ru-oxide interlayer; exchange decoupling; grain boundary; intergranular decoupling; interlayer grain size; magnetic layer interface; magnetic property; microstructure; nonmagnetic oxide phase; nucleation field; perpendicular recording media; transmission electron microscopy; vertical c-axis dispersion; Amorphous magnetic materials; Electrons; Grain boundaries; Magnetic properties; Magnetic separation; Microstructure; Perpendicular magnetic recording; Soft magnetic materials; X-ray diffraction; X-ray scattering; CoCrPtO perpendicular media; exchange decoupling; interlayer; magnetic properties; microstructure; ruthenium; transmission electron microscopy;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMAG.2005.855281
