Magnetic properties of Pd/Co multilayers

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Abstract
Measurements of the magnetic anisotropy of a series of Pd/Co multilayers grown by magnetically enhanced dc triode sputter deposition revealed an interface contribution of 0.53 erg/cm2 and a net volume anisotropy of −13.2×108 erg/cm3. A characteristic reduction of perpendicular anisotropy for ultrathin Co layers (<4 Å) is explained by using a pair interaction model to evaluate a thickness dependence of the interface anisotropy. For Pd-Co interfaces with perfectly sharp composition modulation an interface anisotropy of 0.79 erg/cm2 is predicted. By modeling the magnetization behavior a domain-wall energy density of 2±0.5 erg/cm2 is obtained for Pd/Co (2 Å) multilayers with Pd thicknesses in the range of 4–20 Å. For perpendicular Pd75Co25 alloy thin films the same model gives domain-wall energy densities in the range of 1–2 erg/cm2. For ultrathin Co layers the interlayer Co–Co coupling range is ∼20 Å. Temperature dependence of saturation magnetization of a Pd(11 Å)/Co(7.8 Å) multilayer demonstrates complete mixing of Pd and Co by 380 °C.