The effect of non-magnetic, Cr-rich CoCrPt intermediate and spacer layers on the magnetic properties and microstructure of CoCrPt thin films

Abstract

The effect of non-magnetic Cr-rich CoCrPt intermediate (X) and spacer (Y ) layers on the magnetic and microstructural properties of CoCrPt/X/Cr and CoCrPt/Y/CoCrPt/X/Cr multilayers has been investigated. Significant increases in coercivity of the order of 75% have been obtained in the first scheme and coercivities of over 3 kOe were obtained in the second scheme. This enhancement of coercivity can be attributed in part to an improvement of crystallographic orientation but also to the effects of Cr segregation. The latter, whose origin lies in the use of Cr-rich intermediate and spacer layers, promotes magnetic de-coupling between grains. These effects are evident in switching field distributions and ‘δM’ curves as well as directly observed in magnetic force microscopy images.