Control and enhancement of structural and magnetic properties of Co/Pd multilayer by seeded epitaxy

Effects of Co seed layer on the structural and magnetic properties of Co/Pd multilayers have been studied. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction measurements showed a possible control of the crystal orientation of Pd buffer layer from polycrystalline to face-centered cubic (111) orientation when using Co seed layer. Additionally, atomic force microscopy observations confirmed the ability of Co seed layer to flatten the Pd buffer layer drastically. In fact, the usage of Co seed layer has decreased the root-mean-square roughness from 2.3 to 0.23 nm. As for controlling the structural properties of Pd buffer layer, the effective perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant was enhanced, mainly by the improvement of surface anisotropy. Electronic states of αα-Al2O3(0001)/metal interface obtained by electron energy loss spectroscopy proved that these differences were the fruit of the interaction between the metal layer and oxygen atoms on the Al2O3(0001) surface.