| The main object of this work is to provide a better understanding of the sources contributing to the magnetic anisotropy in multilayers for magnetic recording and magneto-optic storage and to improve the material's magnetic properties for future storage applications.; Selected orientations of epitaxial Co/Pt superlattices were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates in (001), (110), and (111) orientations using seeded epitaxy techniques. The magnetic anisotropies of Co/Pt superlattices are found to be strongly dependent on the crystallographic orientation of the growth axis. High-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HRXTEM) studies of the Co/Pt interfaces show that the interface of Co/Pt is wavy and reveal the presence of a large number of planar defects in the (111) Co/Pt superlattice. In situ x-ray photoelectron diffraction studies of the formation of Co/Pt interface reveal that the interfaces are not atomically abrupt but exhibit limited interdiffusion.; These findings suggest that models for the magnetic anisotropy should not be based on idealized, chemically abrupt interfaces but should incorporate magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the alloy region. A model for the magnetic anisotropy, based on the Neel magnetic surface anisotropy and the existence of defects in the alloy region, is proposed. The easy axis of the magnetic anisotropy predicted by the model agrees with the magnetic and structural data of the superlattices. |
