Structural and magnetic study of Co/Gd multilayers deposited on Si and Si-N substrates

Structural properties of Co/Gd multilayers grown by MBE on Si substrates wi th and without a Si-N buffer are compared. The x-ray and TEM investigation revealed a strong dependency of the structure on the existence of the buffe r layer. The multilayers deposited on pure Si substrate show polycrystallin e microstructure with significant correlation with respect to the distinct crystallographic orientation related to the Si substrate. The structure dep osited on the Si-N buffer can be described as amorphous. A strong mixing of Co and Gd sublayers in samples deposited on Si-N can be concluded while th e multilayer on Si seems to be formed with rather low intermixing. The stru ctural difference between the studied samples was clearly reflected in thei r respective magnetic properties.