Stacking faults in Co-Cr-Pt perpendicular magnetic recording media

The stacking fault density and its spatial distribution in Co-Cr-Pt films used for perpendicular magnetic recording media have been studied with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The stacking fault density increased as the temperature for film fabrication increased. In addition, the number of stacking faults was large in the initial region of film growth, regardless of the fabrication temperature, due to interfacial stress with the underlayer. By comparing the structural properties in terms of stacking faults and grain size with the magnetic properties, we found that stacking faults strongly affect the anisotropy constant and the coercivity of perpendicular media. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.