AVS 46th International Symposium
    Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Technical Group Wednesday Sessions
       Session MI-WeA

Paper MI-WeA9
RF Diode Sputter Deposition of GMR Multilayers

Wednesday, October 27, 1999, 4:40 pm, Room 618/619

Session: Giant Magnetoresistance
Presenter: W. Zou, University of Virginia
Authors: W. Zou, University of Virginia
H.N.G. Wadley, University of Virginia
D. Wang, Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc.
D. Brownell, Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
Radio frequency (RF) diode sputtering has been used for the growth of giant magnetoresistive (GMR) metal multilayers. A systematic series of experiments have been conducted to evaluate the dependence of magnetic properties and magnetoresistance upon growth conditions (i.e. background pressure, input power) for NiFeCo/CoFe/CuAgAu multilayers with different CuAgAu thickness during RF diode sputter deposition using an argon plasma. Atomic force microscopy results have shown that the background pressure and plasma power have large effects upon column width and surface morphology that eventually affect GMR properties. A multiscale modeling study has been used to investigate the origin of these phenomena and to identify the origin of the relationships between the experimental observations and growth conditions. Novel deposition strategies for morphology control have been identified.