Magnetic anisotropy of cobalt - palladium CoxPd100-x thin films on amorphous SiO2

Cobalt – palladium thin films with different Co:Pd ratio, CoxPd100-x (x=23, 36, 42), have been deposited on fused silica (amorphous SiO2) by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). For the structural characterization of the thin films, X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are used and for investigation the magnetic characteristics of the films, physical properties measurement system (PPMS) is used. The results show that the thickness of the thin films is in the range of 16-20 nm and the crystal structure of the films is FCC. Also, the films have a [111] preferred growth direction. The study of the magnetic properties shows that the magnetic anisotropy tends to align in the perpendicular direction by the increase of Pd:Co ratio, which is attributed to the enhancement of the spin-orbit interaction. Also, in this work, the effect of thickness on the magnetic anisotropy is investigated.