Thickness Dependent Structural, Magnetic and Transport Properties of of Cu / Co Thin Film and Multilayer Structures

Abstract

Structural, magnetic and transport properties of electron beam evaporated Co/Cu thin film and multilayer structures (MLS) having different layer thicknesses have been characterized using XRD, MOKE and resistivity techniques. The structural studies show different crystal structures for different sub-layer thicknesses. The Co (300 Ǻ) single layer film is amorphous, while Cu (300 Ǻ) film is microcrystalline in nature. The particle size is found to decrease as the number of interfaces increase. The corresponding magnetic and resistivity measurements show an increase in saturation field and resistivity. However, coercivity decreases with decrease in particle size. The results conclude that these properties are greatly influenced by various micro structural parameters such as layer thickness, number of bilayers and the quality of interfaces formed under different growth conditions.