NIAL UNDERLAYERS FOR COCRTA MAGNETIC THIN-FILMS

CoCrTa films were sputter-deposited on either NiAl or Cr underlayers o n glass substrates and their coercivities were compared. The NiAl film was found to have the B2 structure with a lattice parameter of simila r to 0.288nm. The grain size of a 100nm NiAl film is similar to 15nm, which is about 50% smaller than a similarly deposited Cr film. As the CoCrTa/Cr films the CoCrTa/NiAl films show a similar increase of the i n-plane coercivity with thickening of the underlayer. X-ray diffractio n studies showed that CoCrTa/NiAl films have a stronger (1010) peak th an CoCrTa/Cr films. Substrate heating and biasing during deposition of the NiAl underlayer are less helpful than in the case of Cr underlaye r.