An investigation on the fine defect structure of CoCrTa/Cr magnetic thin films

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Abstract
The fine defect structure inside the CoCrTa grains in a CoCrTa/Cr bilayer film has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. A high density of stacking faults bound by partial dislocations has been observed. The origin of these stacking faults and the nucleation and growth of CoCrTa on Cr columns have been discussed. It is suggested the surface morphology of the Cr column could play an important role in determining the number of CoCrTa nuclei and consequently the size of the individual CoCrTa crystallographic variants. In addition, plates of face-centered cubic CoCrTa separating the hexagonal-close-packed regions have been found and we believe that the existence of these plates could lead to coercivity enhancement.