EXCHANGE-COUPLED DOUBLE-LAYER FILMS (ECDLS) CONSISTING OF TB FE MULTILAYER STACKS/

ECDLs are of interest for direct overwriting (DOW) and super resolutio n in magneto-optic recording. A new approach is the use of RE/TM multi layer stacks as a basic film material which gives additional parameter s to optimize magnetic properties. In a face to face de sputtering equ ipment we produced multilayered films with a total thickness of 2000 A ngstrom having sublayers of 10 Angstrom Fe and 4.5 to 15 Angstrom Tb. The actual net concentrations of the multilayers were determined using XRF. X-ray diffraction produced an amorphous halo, whereas small angl e X-ray diffraction showed still the modulation wavelength of the mult ilayer. Double layers consisting of two multilayer stacks showed a cha racteristic magnetization reversal which can be explained by an exchan ge coupling with a comparatively high coupling energy sigma(w) between the two stacks.