MAGNETIZATION AND ANISOTROPY OF CO/PD MULTILAYER THIN-FILMS

Multilayered Co/Pd thin films were prepared by sequential electron-beam evaporation of Co and Pd onto Si substrates at room temperature. The thicknesses of the Co sublayer and of the Pd sublayer were varied between 2.0-10.3 and 4.5-22.3 Å, respectively. As the Pd sublayer thickness was varied at constant Co thickness, broad maxima in the saturation magnetization M s and intrinsic perpendicular anisotropy energy Ku were observed at a Pd thickness of about 10 Å. At this maximum, Ms per Co volume is larger than the saturation magnetization of bulk Co. This is believed to be caused by the polarization of the Pd atoms within about 10 Å of the Co layer. Ku and Ms per Co volume both decrease with increasing Co layer thickness.