PREFERRED CRYSTAL ORIENTATION OF NIFE UNDERLAYERS AND ITS EFFECT ON MAGNETOSTRICTION OF CO CU/CO THIN-FILMS/

The saturation magnetostriction of sputtered Co/Cu/Co thin films affec ted by preferred crystal orientation distribution of NiFe underlayers has been investigated, The experimental results indicated that preferr ed crystal orientation of NiFe underlayers plays a significant role in affecting the magnetoelastic behavior of coupled Co films separated b y a thin Cu film. Negative value of saturation magnetostriction (-4.9x 10(-6)) was obtained on sample film deposited on the NiFe underlayer w ith a more random crystal orientation distribution, while positive val ue of saturation magnetostriction (+11.6x10(-6)) was found on sample f ilm deposited on highly [111] oriented NiFe film. It is clear that the preferred crystal orientation distribution of NiFe underlayers has a marked effect on the saturation magnetostriction of Co/Cu/Co films tha t lambda(s) is very sensitive to film structure and crystalline orient ation texture.