Study of CoCrPt/NiAl thin films on (001) MgO single crystals

The microstructure and in-plane magnetic properties of Co72Cr10Pt18/NiAl thin films sputter deposited on (001) single crystal MgO substrates have been investigated. The orientation relationship between the NiAl underlayer and the MgO substrate is determined to be [001](100)NiAl//[001](110)MgO. The CoCrPt films grow in a fibrous manner on the (001) NiAl underlayer and the orientation relationship between the two layers is determined to be [101̄1]CoCrPt//[001]NiAl, and (12̄10)CoCrPt//(100)NiAl (variant 1), or (12̄10)CoCrPt//(010)NiAl (variant 2). The CoCrPt film has two sets of in-plane magnetization easy axes. The major easy axes are along the MgO[100] (i.e., NiAl[11̄0]) and the MgO[010] (i.e., NiAl[110]) directions and the secondary easy axes are along the MgO[110] (i.e., NiAl[100]) and the [1̄10] (i.e., NiAl[010]) directions.