Abstract
Ultra clean sputtering process (UC-process) was newly introduced in the fabrication of Co85.5Cr10.5Ta4 thin-film media to establish the control of microstructure of films. By applying the UC-process, the remarkable high-Hc value of about 2.8 kOe (15 nm/50 nm in CoCrTa/Cr thicknesses) was realized with no decrement in saturation magnetization. High-Hc of about 2 kOc (40 nm in magnetic layer thickness) remains even for extremely thin Cr thickness of about 5 nm. Magnetic torque analysis has revealed that magnetic anisotropy field of grains Hgraink in the UC-processed media shows large values of about 6-7.5 kOc, which are about 20-50% larger than those of media fabricated under the normal sputtering process commonly used. The result of temperature dependence of saturation magnetization suggests that the appearance of large Hgraink is mainly attributable to the decrease in Cr content in grains. On the other hand, the enhancement of the formation of homogeneously segregated grain boundary structure, which corresponds to the decrease of intergranular exchange coupling, was also found. The ultra clean sputtering process enables the control of the fine structure and induces the excellent features for magnetic properties even in commonly used CoCrTa material.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 403-412 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials |
Volume | 182 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1998 Mar 4 |
Keywords
- Anisotropy field
- Exchange coupling - intergranular
- Grain boundary structure
- Magnetic recording media
- Sputtering - ultraclean
- Thin film
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics