Effect of Ti cap layer thickness on microstructures and magnetic properties of Ti/Ni/Ti films

Nanogranular Ti (3 nm)/Ni(30 nm)/Ti(t nm) (t=1, 3, 5, 7, 10) films were prepared by facing magnetron sputtering from Ti and Ni onto glass substrates at room temperature. The structural and magnetic properties of films strongly depended on the Ti layer thickness. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of all as-deposited films showed strong FCC Ni(111) peak. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements indicated that the perpendicular coercivity of the Ti (3 nm)/Ni (30 nm)/Ti (3 nm) film reached about 36 kA/m. With the increase of Co layer thickness, coercivity (Hc) first increased and then decreased. The grain size and magnetic clusters slightly increased and the value of roughness (Ra) was smallest at t=3 nm.