Domain structure and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in CoFe/Pd multilayers using off-axis electron holography

摘要

Multilayers of Co90Fe10/Pd with different bilayer thicknesses, have beendeposited by dc-magnetron sputtering on thermally oxidized Si wafers.Transmission electron microscopy showed that the highly textured crystallinefilms had columnar structure, while scanning transmission electron microscopyand atomic force microscopy respectively indicated some layer waviness andsurface roughness. The magnetic domain structure and perpendicular magneticanisotropy (PMA) of the Co90Fe10/Pd multilayers were investigated by off-axiselectron holography and magnetic force microscopy. The Co90Fe10 layer thicknesswas the primary factor determining the magnetic domain size and theperpendicular magnetization: both decreased as the thickness increased. Thestrongest PMA was observed in the sample with the thinnest magnetic layer of0.45 nm.