Controlling the magnetization reversal mechanism in Co/Pd multilayers by underlayer processing

The effect of various process parameters on the magnetic properties of sputter deposited Co/Pd multilayered films is presented. The coercivity of the films was found to increase logarithmically with the thickness of the Pd underlayer. Various combinations of sputter gas (Ar) pressure during the deposition of the underlayer (P/sub ul/) and during the deposition of the multilayer (P/sub ml/) were studied. Coercivity was found to depend on both P/sub ul/ and P/sub ml/. When P/sub ml/ was kept constant at 3 mTorr, a decrease in coercivity with the increase in P/sub ul/ was observed. And, for a constant P/sub ul/ of 3 mTorr, an increase in coercivity was observed when P/sub ml/ was increased. The magnetization reversal mechanism of these films was found to change from domain wall motion to rotation when P/sub ul/ is increased from 3 mTorr to 18 mTorr or higher. However, the change in the reversal mechanism was not observed with the variation in the preparation conditions of the magnetic layer or the other underlayer process parameters such as the thickness or sputter power.