Overlayer effects on perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Co/Au/Cu films

초록

We have performed Brillouin light scattering measurements to investigate the effect on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of overlayers on ultra--thin Co films prepared by Molecular Beam Epitaxy. The overlayer materials used for these studies were Al and Au. We observed a systematic decrease in PMA when using Al instead of Au overlayers, and will present results of the uniaxial anisotropies of the films as a function of Au underlayer thickness. In addition, we found the unexpected result that the PMA is significantly reduced when an Au overlayer of 3.5 nm is covered by an extra Al capping layer. The amount of this reduction depends on the thickness of the Al layer. We speculate that misfit strain at the interface between the Al and the Au can be propagated through the Au layer to affect the magnetic properties of Co.