Electrodeposition of Thin CoPt Films with Very High Perpendicular Anisotropy from Hexachloroplatinate Solution: Effect of Saccharin Additive and Electrode Substrate

The CoPt films with 9.7-91 at% Co and thicknesses of 15-20 nm were obtained from a new designed stable hexachloroplatinate solution at a controlled potential deposition. The effects of the substrate (Ru and Cu) and an organic additive (saccharin) on composition, crystal structure and magnetic properties of the CoPt films were studied. It was demonstrated that a Ru electrode substrate provides well-defined surface for the epitaxial growth of hcp phase, resulting in high perpendicular anisotropy. The addition of saccharin (Sacc) as an organic additive into the plating solution caused a dramatic improvement of the epitaxial growth of CoPt film on the Ru substrate. At the film thickness of interest, for bit-patterned media BPM (15-20 nm), the out-of-plane coercivity showed the highest value of 6700 Oe and the squarness Mr/Ms ∼1.