Magnetic multilayers Au-Co-Au - Structural and magnetic analysis

Systematic structural studies by transmission electronic microscopy and magnetooptic measures on layered structure Au(111)/Co(001)/Au(111), obtained through ultrahigh vacuum vaporization, have clarified some correlations between the crystallographic structure of the cobalt layer and its magnetic properties and allowed us to put forward answers concerning some of these properties. Indeed, these studies provide information concerning the magnetic properties of this magnetic material in such structures. The presence of the gold atoms causes the elementary hexagonal cell of the Co to expand. A simple calculation based on this expansion describes well the anisotropic magnetic behavior of these layers as a function of their thickness.