Epitaxial growth and magnetic properties of electrochemically multilayered [CoPtP/Cu]n films

Electrochemically fabricated [CoPtP(100 nm)/Cu-(x nm)] multilayers and their resulting magnetic properties were investigated. It was observed that the [CoPtP(100 nm)/Cu-(x nm)] multilayer had an epitaxial microstructure in which each CoPtP and Cu layer existed coherently as if they were one single layer. Moreover, their magnetic properties varied considerably according to the thickness of the Cu layers. Microstructural characterization of the [CoPtP(100 nm)/Cu-(x nm)] multilayers by transmission electron microscopy revealed that the thicker the Cu layers, the more significantly aligned the [111](fcc) direction of the Cu layers, a situation which strongly induced the growth of the CoPtP layers in the direction of [002](hex). These microstructural features provide a reasonable explanation for the correlation of the magnetic properties of the electrodeposited [CoPtP(100 nm)/Cu-(x nm)] multilayers with the thickness of the Cu layers, because magneto-crystalline anisotropy could account for the enhancement of the perpendicular magnetic properties of the films. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.