Abstract
Electrodeposited ultrathin cobalt films on Au(111) covered with a protective copper film can show perpendicular magnetization exactly like their ultrahigh-vacuum-grown counterparts. At high deposition rates of cobalt, out-of-plane magnetization is stabilized in the thickness range from 2 to 8 atomic layers while low deposition rates favor in-plane magnetization at any thickness. The cobalt films possess hcp structure with the axis perpendicular to the Au(111) plane. The technique is versatile and leads to quality standards comparable to those obtained by molecular-beam epitaxy, but at a much lower cost.
- Received 5 May 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.56.R7120
©1997 American Physical Society