Relationship between surface energy and preferred orientation of CoCr alloy magnetic thin films deposited on C and TiCr underlayers

Abstract

The relationship between crystallographic grain orientation and the three kinds of surface energy components; dispersion, polar, and hydrogen bonding components, in Co 73Cr 18Pt 6Ta 3 perpendicular magnetic recording media with an amorphous C or a Ti 90Cr 10 underlayer was discussed. Each surface energy component of the thin film was calculated from an extended Fowkes theory by measuring the contact angle of a test liquid on the thin film. The experimental results revealed that the polar component of surface energy of the Co 73Cr 18Pt 6Ta 3 magnetization film with the C underlayer affected greatly the Co [0 0 1] preferred orientation of the Co 73Cr 18Pt 6Ta 3 magnetization film, while the surface energy of the Co 73Cr 18Pt 6Ta 3 magnetic layer with the Ti 90Cr 10 underlayer had little influence on the distribution of it.