| Metallic multilayer thin films have found widespread use in technological applications. A number of multilayer films are being studied as perpendicular magnetic media for both magnetic and magneto-optic recording. The most promising of all are Pt/Co periodic multilayers because of their large magnetic anisotropy and magneto-optic Kerr rotations.;A key property of these multilayer structures is the presence of a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, K;We have undertaken a structure-property study in Pt/Co multilayers in an effort to identify the main features controlling the relevant properties. Pt/Co multilayers were deposited under a number of different processing conditions and sputtering ambients to promote structural differences among the films. The resulting multilayers displayed a wide range of magnetic properties. High resolution electron microscopy (HREM), x-ray diffraction, and magnetic and magneto-optical analytical tools were used to characterize these films.;Our findings indicate that the large differences found in K;As a result of our findings, we fabricated multilayers based on a (Pt/Co/Pt)/X (X=Pd,Ag,Cu,Ni) stacking sequence where the thickness of the Pt layer is of just one atomic monolayer and compared their properties to the corresponding Co/X multilayers. As predicted, the (Pt/Co/Pt)/X multilayers present strong perpendicular anisotropy and greatly improved Kerr rotations and magnetic coercivities over the corresponding Co/X films. For instance, Ar sputtered (Pt/Co/Pt)/Pd multilayers show a four-fold improvement in K... |
