Magnetic and structural characterization of copper/cobalt multilayers

Copper/cobalt multilayers were deposited by magnetically enhanced dc triode sputtering onto single-crystal sapphire substrates. According to the binary-phase diagram, no stable alloys of copper and cobalt exist. Because the multilayers are not exposed to high temperatures, we expect no alloy formation at the interfaces. X-ray diffraction techniques demonstrate crystalline layering existing down to monolayer thicknesses of copper and cobalt. The saturation magnetization behavior of the multilayers was modeled using the perpendicular and in-plane hysteresis curves obtained using a vibrating sample magnetometer. A torque magnetometer was used to determine the net magnetic anisotropy. Here we discuss the correlation between the magnetic behavior and the structural properties.