CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF RH CO/RH SANDWICHES/

Rh/Co/Rh sandwiches were prepared by MBE method on MgO(1 1 1) and (1 0 0) single-crystal substrates. For both orientations, the Co layers gr ow epitaxially with FCC structure on the Ph base layers. The (1 1 1) o riented films with Co layer thickness between 0.35 and 10 nm exhibit p erpendicular magnetic anisotropy larger than (1 0 0) films especially at around 1 nm. The difference in the anisotropy between the two orien tations is much smaller in Rh/Co/Rh sandwiches than in Pt/Co/Pt, corre sponding to smaller lattice misfit of Rh/Co system. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.