Structural and Morphological Effect of Ti underlayer on Pt/Co/Pt Magnetic Ultra-Thin Film

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a trace amount of Ti underlayer significantly influences the growth, morphology, and magnetic anisotropy of Pt/Co/Pt ultra-thin films, promoting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy through controlled film growth.

Contribution

It reveals how a small Ti underlayer alters film growth mode and magnetic properties, providing insights for designing magnetic thin films with tailored anisotropy.

Findings

Ti underlayer promotes perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at x=8Å and 10Å.

Ti influences the growth mode, leading to smoother, fiber-textured films.

Absence of Ti results in rough, randomly oriented nanocrystalline growth.

Abstract

Pt(x{\AA})/Co(5{\AA})/Pt(10{\AA}) trilayer films were deposited on naturally oxidized Si(111) substrate to investigate Ti underlayer effect on PMA. A small amount of Ti underlayer promoted the magnetic anisotropy to a perpendicular direction for x=8{\AA} and 10{\AA}. Both GI XRD and STM results showed that the Ti underlayer manipulated the growth of trilayer film. The Pt particles preferably grow the neighborhood of the Ti cluster, giving rise to a relatively smooth layer with a fiber texture fcc (111) structure. By contrast, the absence of Ti underlayer leads to clustered, relatively rough, and randomly oriented nano-crystalline growth. Differences in the growth mode, especially roughness, also appeared as intensity loss in XPS spectra due to shadowing effects. Our results indicate that a traceable amount of underlayer can change the magnetic anisotropy of the film by manipulating film growth.