Thickness and Interface-Dependent Structural, Magnetic, and Transport Properties of Cu/Co Thin Film and Multilayer Structures

R Brajpuriya

doi:10.1155/2014/569691

Abstract

Structural, magnetic, and transport properties of electron beam evaporated Co/Cu thin films and multilayer structures (MLS) having different layer thicknesses have been characterized utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetooptical Kerr effect (MOKE), and resistivity techniques. The structural studies show distinctive crystal structures for different sublayer thicknesses. The Co (300 Å) single layer film is amorphous, while Cu (300 Å) film is nanocrystalline in nature. The average particle size is found to decrease as the number of interface increases. The corresponding magnetic and resistivity measurements show an increase in saturation field and resistivity as a result of an enhanced anisotropy. However, coercivity decreases with a reduction in average particle size. The results conclude that these properties are greatly influenced by various microstructural parameters such as layer thickness, number of bilayers, and the quality of interfaces molded under different growth conditions.

Highlights

Magnetic thin films, in particular nanometer scale structures, have been the subject of numerous studies by different laboratories [1, 2]
In the present paper, the author systematically took out the synthesis and characterization of single layer, bilayer, and multilayer (MLS) using X-ray diffraction and magnetooptical Kerr effect (MOKE) method in order to get out a clear correlation between the structural parameters and the observed magnetic behavior in Co/Cu single layer, bilayer, and multilayer films
The intensity of the peak as well as average particle size decreases due to increase in intermixing of Co and Cu layer at the interfaces and its further growth as the number of interfaces increases

Summary

Introduction

In particular nanometer scale structures, have been the subject of numerous studies by different laboratories [1, 2]. The structure and morphology of magnetic (M = Fe, Co, Ni, or perm alloy)/nonmagnetic (NM = Cu, Pd, Ag, and Au noble metals) multilayers with disordered interfaces has been of growing interest within the last 20 years for both fundamental and technological reasons. Magnetic properties of multilayer thin films can be controlled by an appropriate selection of film thickness, film composition, interface roughness, grain size, annealing temperature, and so forth [9, 10]. Among them the effect of the interface has a critical role in the magnetic properties of multilayer as a result of the break in local symmetry, strain issuing from lattice mismatch with adjacent layers, or interface morphology (e.g., surface reconstruction, roughness, or interdiffusion). In the present paper, the author systematically took out the synthesis and characterization of single layer, bilayer, and multilayer (MLS) using X-ray diffraction and magnetooptical Kerr effect (MOKE) method in order to get out a clear correlation between the structural parameters and the observed magnetic behavior in Co/Cu single layer, bilayer, and multilayer films

Experimental Details

Result and Discussion

Conclusions