Angle-dependent X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in hybrid [CoO/Pd]2[Co/Pd]7 multilayers

• Published in: Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials 2017-06, Vol.432, p.450-454
• Main Authors: Kim, D.H., Lee, Eunsook, Kim, Hyun Woo, Seong, Seungho, Yang, Seung-Mo, Park, Hae-Soo, Hong, JinPyo, Kim, Younghak, Kim, J.-Y., Kang, J.-S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Multilayers; Orbital Magnetic Moments; PMA (Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy); XMCD
• ISSN: 0304-8853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmmm.2017.02.019

•Angle-dependent XMCD were performed on hybrid [CoO/Pd]2[Co/Pd]7 multilayers that exhibit enhanced PMA.•The enhanced orbital magnetic moments indicates that the origin of the improved PMA is the interface spin–orbit coupling.•The induced Pd polarization after annealing demonstrates the strong Co-Pd hybridization arising from the Co-Pd alloy formation near the interface.•The angle-dependent coercivity suggests that the magnetization reversal in [Co/Pd] ML occurs mainly through the pinning mechanism. We have investigated the angle-dependent orbital and spin magnetic moments of the [Co/Pd] multilayer (ML) films with intervening CoO layers under annealing by employing angle-dependent soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). After annealing, the orbital magnetic moments of Co ions are found to be enhanced, with the maximum values along the perpendicular direction of [Co/Pd] ML, providing evidence for the origin of the improved perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) being the interface spin–orbit coupling. The induced Pd polarization was observed after annealing, demonstrating the strong Co-Pd hybridization arising from the Co-Pd alloy formation near the interface. The angle-dependent coercivity follows the 1/cosθ behavior, suggesting that the magnetization reversal in the hysteresis curve in [Co/Pd] ML occurs mainly through the pinning mechanism.