Interface and temperature dependent magnetic properties of 57Fe/Ti/Co multilayers

The effect of thermal annealing on the interface of 57Fe/Ti/Co multilayer and associated changes in microstructure, hyperfine field and bulk magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization, coercivity and squareness has been studied by X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. With increase in annealing temperature, interdiffusion leads to an increase in the roughness, hyperfine fields and coercivity along with a decrease in saturation magnetization. Annealing at 823 K leads to the formation of a FeCo phase along with the precipitation of Ti. The electrical resistivity (ρ) of the as-deposited sample decreases on annealing and hence the thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR) goes from negative to positive on annealing the samples. All samples show Curie temperature in excess of 723 K.