Structural and magnetic characterization of very thin CoCr films

In this paper we describe the nucleation and growth of thin CoCr layers on different substrates and seedlayers. Especially the presence and formation of the initial layer is considered, and corresponding growth mechanisms are proposed. The magnetic properties of these layers have been analyzed by in-plane VSM and by anomalous Hall effect (AHE) measurements. Even layers as thin as 5nm are shown to exhibit a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. For a high coercive CoCr film the formation of dot-like domains is shown by the Bitter-colloid/SEM technique.