AVS 50th International Symposium
    Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Wednesday Sessions
       Session MI+TF-WeA

Paper MI+TF-WeA6
Ion Deposited Co and DLC Films Generated from Laser Excitation

Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 3:40 pm, Room 316

Session: Magnetic Thin Films
Presenter: F.J. Cadieu, Queens College of CUNY
Authors: F.J. Cadieu, Queens College of CUNY
L. Chen, Queens College of CUNY
Correspondent: Click to Email
A modified pulsed laser deposition system has been used to deposit films from ions generated due to the impact of 248 nm excimer laser pulses. A synchronously pulsed magnetic field coil with a wide entrance throat and a tapered bore in conjunction with a set of permanent magnets has been used to capture and concentrate the ion and electron beam flux under vacuum conditions onto the substrates. Co and other films such as diamond like carbon, DLC, are strongly adherent when deposited onto even room temperature substrates. The ion collection and concentration factor is such that Co films deposited on glass to an optical density of 3.0, approximately 7 nm thickness, with coil pulsing and magnets only exhibited an optical density of 0.10 without coil pulsing and magnets for the same number of laser pulses. Films have been characterized by x-ray reflectivity, x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, SEM, and magnetoresistivity measurements when combined with other magnetic layers. Over an order of magnitude intensity modulation has been observed in x-ray reflectivity measurements for Co films, 7-15 nm thickness, deposited onto R-plane sapphire substrates and onto Si (111) substrates. In contrast to this Co films simultaneously deposited onto A-plane sapphire substrates hardly exhibited x-ray reflectivity fringes indicating a large surface roughness. Similarly DLC films deposited onto (111) Si substrates exhibited order of magnitude intensity modulations indicating a very small surface roughness. X-ray reflectivity measurements of DLC, Co layers on (111) Si are used to show the conditions necessary to make smooth and hence insulating DLC films onto the metallic layer. SEM measurements indicated smooth films were obtained with no discernible particulates. X-ray pole figures are used to characterize single crystal films versus polycrystalline growth modes.