YCo5±x thin films with perpendicular anisotropy grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The synthesis conditions of buffer-free (00l) oriented YCo5 and Y2Co17 thin films onto Al2O3 (0001) substrates have been explored by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The manipulation of the ratio of individual atomic beams of Yttrium, Y and Cobalt, Co, as well as growth rate variations allows establishing a thin film phase diagram. Highly textured YCo5±x thin films were stabilized with saturation magnetization of 517 emu/cm3 (0.517 MA/m), coercivity of 4 kOe (0.4 T), and anisotropy constant, K1, equal to 5.34×106 erg/cm3 (0.53 MJ/m3). These magnetic parameters and the perpendicular anisotropy obtained without additional underlayers make the material system interesting for application in magnetic recording devices.