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Unusual Behavior in The Magnetic Anisotropy of Ultra-Thin Co Sandwiches: The Role of Au Underlayers.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Christian Marlière
Affiliation:
The Optical Sciences Center and the Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Brad N. Engel
Affiliation:
The Optical Sciences Center and the Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Charles M. Falco
Affiliation:
The Optical Sciences Center and the Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
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Abstract

We have used in situ polar Kerr effect measurements to study the magnetic anisotropy of X/Co/Y sandwich structures grown by MBE on Cu(111) buffers, where X and Y are variable thicknesses of Au. For fixed values of Y and in the case of an underlayer wedge, e.g. variable X value, we have found a sharp minimum in both coercive field and perpendicular anisotropy at ≈1 atomic layer of the Au underlayer. This anisotropy behavior is opposite to that of an Au overlayer deposited on a Co film, i.e. variable Y and fixed X.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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