Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
CoCrNi bilayer films with Cr, Ti and Zr interlayers were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering onto ultra densified amorphous carbon substrates and characterized using cross-section transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. The films are polycrystalline with a columnar microstructure. In the Cr interlayer case there is layer-to-layer epitaxy throughout a given column. Magnetic measurements snowed a simple in-plane easy axis magnetic hysteresis loop. In the Zr and Ti interlayer cases epitaxy within a column was lost beginning with the first CoCrNi/(Zr/Ti) interface, resulting in a magnetic layer consisting of two crystallographically unrelated CoCrNi films. Magnetic measurements revealed a complex step-structure hysteresis loop for this case. Annealing the Zr interlayer film led to a significant growth of the amorphous layer due to a solid state amorphization reaction between the Zr and CoCrNi, which was accompanied by a decrease in the saturation magnetization.