Title :
Magnetic and transport properties of sputter deposited Ni/Co multilayers
Author :
Pollard, R.J. ; McCartney, S.E. ; Atkinson, R.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Pure & Appl. Phys., Queen´´s Univ., Belfast, UK
fDate :
7/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We have fabricated multilayer Ni/Co thin films by sputter deposition. For films in which the overall thickness was kept constant and the ratio of Co to Ni is 1:1 there is an increase of coercivity as the bilayer thickness is reduced below 2 nm. For films with a thickness of 63 nm, the coercivity rises from below 2.5 kA/m in a film with a bilayer thickness of 3 nm to 30 kA/m for a bilayer thickness of 1 nm. The equivalent composition alloy film shows a coercivity of below 2.5 kA/m. High coercivity is also observed if only one of the constituent layers has a thickness less than 1 nm. For even thickness Ni and Co individual layers and a constant overall film thickness we find that the film resistivity increases with interface density. For a constant overall film thickness the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect is seen to be inversely proportional to the film resistivity
Keywords :
cobalt; coercive force; electrical resistivity; magnetic multilayers; magnetoresistance; metallic superlattices; nickel; sputtered coatings; Ni-Co; anisotropic magnetoresistance effect; bilayer thickness; coercivity; film resistivity; interface density; magnetic properties; sputter deposited Ni/Co multilayers; transport properties; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Coercive force; Conductivity; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic films; Magnetic multilayers; Magnetic properties; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; Saturation magnetization; Sputtering;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on