Structure and magnetic properties of Ni/Cu/Fe/MgO(001) films.

ABSTRACT

The structural and magnetic properties of thin Ni films grown on Cu/Fe/MgO(001) and Cu/MgO(001) buffer layers are investigated and compared to those grown on Cu/Si(001). The use of an Fe seed layer a few monolayers thick leads to the epitaxial growth of high surface quality Cu(001) buffer layers on MgO(001), while Cu growth on the bare MgO(001) substrate results in polycrystalline films. Magneto-optic Kerr effect magnetometry shows that Ni films grown on Cu/Fe/MgO(001) exhibit dominant perpendicular magnetic anisotropy up to ∼90 Å, which is similar to that of Ni films grown on Cu/Si(001). The polycrystalline Ni films also exhibit perpendicular magnetic remanence, but with a dominant in-plane magnetization component.