Magnetic and Magneto-Optic Properties of dc Magnetron Sputtered Co-Cr/Al Multilayers

Abstract

ABSTRACTSingle layers of Co82?l8 with thickness in me ranee of 100–1500Å and multilayers of Co-Cr/Al with Co-Cr thickness in the range of 100–200A and Al at 7Å were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering. The films were deposited on to Si (111) and glass substrates at room temperature. A 100Å thick Al buffer layer was deposited to improve the c-axis orientation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) Measurements on the multilayers show a predominant Co-Cr (00.2) peak. Polar Magneto-optic measurements were performed to determine the Kerr rotation (θK) and figure of Merit. The results indicated an enhancement in the figure of merit at λ = 632.8 nm for the multilayered structures compared to single layer samples. All of the films show a 4πMs value around 6 kG and ferromagnetic resonance measurements indicate an enhancement in the perpendicular anisotropy field for the 150Å multilayered sample.