Electrochemical formation of intermediate layer for Co/Pd multilayered media

Jun Kawaji, Koji Kimura, Toru Asahi, Takayuki Homma, Tetsuya Osaka*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Pd nanocluster seeds were formed on a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL) using an electrochemical substitution reaction, and were utilized as an intermediate layer for a Co/Pd multilayered ([Co/Pd]n) perpendicular magnetic recording medium. A CoNiFeB film prepared with electroless deposition was used as SUL, which was immersed into a PdCl2 solution for the formation of Pd seeds. The Pd seeds were found to effectively reduce the size of magnetic domains in the [Co/Pd]n film deposited on them. The optimization of the concentration of the PdCl2 solution and the use of the pretreatment process with a SnCl2 solution were effective to obtain the smooth SUL surface with fine Pd seeds as small as 5 nm. The 20 nm-thick [Co/Pd]n film deposited on the optimized Pd seeds/CoNiFeB SUL exhibited a high coercivity of 7.8 kOe and a small magnetic domain size of 69 nm. These results indicated that the combination of the Pd seeds and the electroless-deposited SUL was desirable in terms of the improvement not only in the magnetic properties of [Co/Pd]n media but also in the mass productivity of the underlayer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e128-e132
JournalJournal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials
Volume303
Issue number2 SPEC. ISS.
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006 Aug

Keywords

  • Co/Pd multilayered film
  • Electrochemical process
  • Intermediate layer
  • Pd seeds
  • Perpendicular magnetic recording media
  • Soft magnetic underlayer

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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