AVS 46th International Symposium
    Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Technical Group Friday Sessions
       Session MI-FrM

Paper MI-FrM4
Structure and Magnetic Properties of Cu/Co/Cu/H-Si(110) Films

Friday, October 29, 1999, 9:20 am, Room 618/619

Session: Magnetic Thin Films
Presenter: S. Maat, University of Alabama
Authors: S. Maat, University of Alabama
M.T. Umlor, University of Alabama
G.J. Mankey, University of Alabama
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We report the results of a study of the structural and magnetic properties of Co films deposited on Cu/H-Si(110). A Cu(111) buffer layer is formed by evaporation or UHV sputter deposition on the H-terminated Si(110) surface. From consideration of bulk lattice constants, the Cu films undergo a 6% expansion along the [1, -1, 0] direction and a 13% compression along the [1, 1, -2] direction. The structure as a function of buffer layer thickness from 1 nm to 100 nm is determined with a combination of LEED, Auger electron spectroscopy and RHEED. The optimum sputtering conditions for producing well-ordered fcc(111) films were determined. The buffer layer crystallography was found to be strongly dependent on the sputtering conditions, with a transition from polycrystalline to single-crystal as the sputtering power is increased. Evaporated films were found to grow as single crystals. Co films grown on single-crystal buffer layers exhibit a six-fold LEED pattern with diffuse spots. The Co films were capped with a protective Cu layer and the magnetic properties were measured ex-situ with MOKE and MFM. MOKE data perpendicular to the Cu [1, -1, 0] direction reveals a stepped hysteresis loop shape characteristic of a combination of triaxial and uniaxial in-plane anisotropy. This loop shape is attributed to a combination of uniaxial strain incorporated in the films and the three-fold crystalline anisotropy of the hcp structure. @FootnoteText@ Supported by DOD grant DAAH04-96-1-0316 and shared equipment through NSF grant DMR-9809423.