Electrochemical formation of intermediate layer for Co/Pd multilayered media

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.