Structure and magnetic properties of Co/Pt single- and bi-crystal multilayers

Both FCC(1 1 1) single- and bi-crystal [Co(3 Angstrom)]/Pt(10 Angstrom)](23) multilayers have been successfully grown on sapphire (0 0 0 1) and yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia (1 0 0) substrates, respectively, by molecular-beam epitaxial technique. The coercivity of single crystal films decreased monotonically as elevating post-annealing temperature. However, bicrystal films displayed a larger coercivity than the other. Moreover, the coercivity of bicrystal films did not decrease until the annealing temperature > 400degreesC. The difference in magnetic behavior between single- and bi-crystal multilayers could be originated from the demagnetizing factors resulted by different grain and surface structures. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.