Interfacial properties of [Pt/Co/Pt] trilayers probed through magnetometry

The magnetic and interface properties of [Pt/Co/Pt] were investigated. First, the magnetic properties were determined from the magnetic dead layer plots, in which the Co layer was considered as two distinct parts representing different magnetic properties. The two parts with low and high t(Co) ranges are close to and away from the top interface (Co/Pt), respectively. The part close to the top interface shows a smaller magnetization (M) value and nonlinear behavior. However, the other part shows a higher M value closer to the bulk value and a linear behavior. The nonlinear behavior of the M values of the low t(Co) range was converted to an impurity level using simple assumptions. The results showed the effect of the top Pt layer on the magnetic properties of the Co layer. The results clearly demonstrate that magnetometry could be utilized as a means to understand the interface quality of magnetic multilayer systems.