Structural, magnetic and transport properties of ion beam deposited Co thin films

Magnetic nanostructures display new and interesting physical phenomena and are currently used in a large variety of applications. We studied the structural, magnetic and transport properties of Co thin films deposited by ion beam sputtering. We probed the influence of the buffer layer material (Al, Cu, Ru or Ta) and thickness (10-100 angstrom) on the structural properties of Co thin films. Using X-ray diffraction we observed that textured fcc Co films can be grown on amorphous Ta as thin as 20 angstrom but for the other buffer layers no texture is observed. We also studied by magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) the magnetic properties of the Co thin films as a function of Co thickness (100-1000 angstrom). Finally, the electrical resistivity and anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of our Co thin films (on a Ta buffer) was obtained as a function of Co thickness. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.