Magneto-optical Kerr effect and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of evaporated and sputtered Co/Pt multilayer structures

Thin and ultrathin Co/Pt multilayered structures have been prepared on glass substrates by electron‐beam evaporation at room temperature and by sputtering at various substrate temperatures and sputtering pressures. Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy was found in samples with Co/Pt bilayer thicknesses near 3 A/10 A and total thicknesses of the layer stack of no greater than 300 A. X‐ray diffraction was performed on the samples to determine layer spacing and integrity, and possible crystallinity of films. Crystalline structures in the interface between the Co and Pt layers were found and identified. The effects of sputtering parameters, such as pressure and substrate temperature, on the magneto‐optical Kerr effect were studied. The two deposition methods, electron‐beam evaporation and sputtering, resulted in different magneto‐optical properties in samples with the same nominal layer structures. We have also investigated optical properties (reflectance, index of refraction, and extinction coefficient) of these materials using ellipsometry.