Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The effects of the substrate temperature on the magnetic properties and crystal structure of Co89Cr7Pt4/Cr films deposited by laser ablation were studied. A pulsed KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of 248 nm was focused on ablation targets in a vacuum chamber. The laser irradiation energy was estimated to 10 J/cm2. Cr underlayer and Co89Cr7Pt4 films were successively deposited on the Si substrate at a rate of 0.012 nm/pulse. At a substrate temperature lower than 350 °C, an in-plane coercivity of 30 nm thick CoCtjPu film deposited on 50 nm thick Cr underlayer was 50∼150 Oe showing no significant influence by the substrate heating. The coercivity at 450 °C, however, increased to 800 Oe showing a maximum at this temperature. X-ray diffraction analyses showed that the magnetic films formed at lower than 350 °C have fcc-Co phase, while the films deposited at 450 °C had hep-Co phase with the c-axis oriented parallel to the substrate. At temperatures higher than 450 °C, the coercivity decreased concomitant with a disappearance of the oriented hep-Co phase. The grain size of the films increased from 10 nm to 20∼30 nm by increasing the substrate temperature. The increase of coercivity is probably due to annealing effects resulting in the grain growth of Cr underlayer and the phase transformation of the magnetic films to form the hep-Co phase.