Hall Effect Studies on Ar and Xe Sputtered Pt/Co Multilayer Films

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Abstract
The extra-ordinary Hall effect has been studied in Ar sputtered Pt(x Å)/Co(5 Å) and Xe sputtered Pt(x Å)/Co(3 Å) multilayers with coercivity ≤8 kA/m and ≥72 kA/m at RT, respectively. The Hall resistivity ρH was found to be larger and have a different Pt layer thickness dependence for the Ar sputtering case as x was varied from 5 Å to 20 Å, although the ohmic resistivity ρR and the saturation magnetization exhibit similar behavior. The estimated values for ρH, ρR, Hall conductivity γHS and extra-ordinary Hall coefficient R 1 for a hypothetical “multilayer” Co film (x=0) are all larger than those for “pure” sputtered Co films. Moreover, it was not possible to explain the observed variation of ρH with the Pt layer thickness with the short-circuiting effect from the non-magnetic Pt layers as predicted by a simple two-layer model. We suggest that the smaller ρH for the Xe sputtered Pt/Co films compared to Ar sputtered films can be attributed to reduced scattering suggesting a beneficial influence of the interface sharpness on the anisotropy of Pt/Co multilayers.