Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:44:11.581Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Grain Boundary Diffusion in Co/Cu and Co/Cr Magnetic Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

John G. Holl-Pellerin ,
S.G.H. Anderson ,
P.S. Ho ,
K.R. Coffey ,
J.K. Howard  and
K. Barmak
John G. Holl-Pellerin
Affiliation:
Materials Laboratory for Interconnect and Packaging, University of Texas at Austin, BRC/MER Mail Code 78650, Austin, TX 78712–1100
S.G.H. Anderson
Affiliation:
Materials Laboratory for Interconnect and Packaging, University of Texas at Austin, BRC/MER Mail Code 78650, Austin, TX 78712–1100
P.S. Ho
Affiliation:
Materials Laboratory for Interconnect and Packaging, University of Texas at Austin, BRC/MER Mail Code 78650, Austin, TX 78712–1100
K.R. Coffey
Affiliation:
Materials Laboratory for Interconnect and Packaging, University of Texas at Austin, BRC/MER Mail Code 78650, Austin, TX 78712–1100
J.K. Howard
Affiliation:
IBM, ADSTAR Division, 5600 Cottle Rd, 808/282, San Jose, CA 95193
K. Barmak
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Whitaker Laboratory, 5 East Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA 18015–3195
Get access

Abstract

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to investigate grain boundary diffusion of Cu and Cr through 1000 Å thick Co films in the temperature range of 325°C to 400°C. Grain boundary diffusivities were determined by modeling the accumulation of Cu or Cr on Co surfaces as a function of time at fixed annealing temperature. The grain boundary diffusivity of Cu through Co is characterized by a diffusion coefficient, D0gb, of 2 × 104 cm2/sec and an activation energy, Ea,gb, of 2.4 eV. Similarly, Cr grain boundary diffusion through Co thin films occurs with a diffusion coefficient, Do,gb, of 6 × 10-2cm2/sec and an activation energy, Ea,gb of 1.8 eV. The Co film microstructure has been investigated before and after annealing by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron Microscopy. Extensive grain growth and texturing of the film occurred during annealing for Co deposited on a Cu underlayer. In contrast, the microstructure of Co deposited on a Cr underlayer remained relatively unchanged upon annealing. Magnetometer Measurements have shown that increased in-plane coercivity Hc, reduced remanence squareness S, and reduced coercive squareness S* result from grain boundary diffusion of Cu and Cr into the Co films.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 313: Symposium Q1 – Magnetic Ultrathin Films, Multilayers and Surfaces/Magnetic Interfaces-Physics and Characterizations , 1993 , 205
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Johnson, K.E., J. Appl. Phys. 69, 4932 (1991).Google Scholar
2. Coughlin, T., Pressesky, J., Lee, S., Heiman, N., Fisher, R.D., and Merchant, K., J. Appl. Phys. 67, 4689 (1990).Google Scholar
3. Johnson, K.E., Ivett, P.R., Thomas, D.R., Mirzamaani, M., Lambert, S.E., and Yogi, T., J. Appl. Phys. 67, 4686 (1990).Google Scholar
4. Duan, S.L., Artman, J.O., Hono, K., and Laughlin, D.E., J. Appl. Phys. 67, 4704 (1990).Google Scholar
5. Hwang, J.C.M. and Balluffi, R.W., J. Appl. Phys. 50, 1339 (1979).Google Scholar
6. Smardz, L., Köbler, U., and Zinn, W., J. Appl. Phys. 71, 5199 (1992).Google Scholar
7. Proctor, A. and Sherwood, P. M. A., Anal. Chem. 54, 13 (1982).Google Scholar
8. Harrison, L.G., Trans. Faraday Soc. 57, 1191 (1961).Google Scholar
9. Gupta, D., Campbell, D.R., and Ho, P.S. in Thin Films - Interdiffusions and Reactions, edited by Poate, J.M., Tu, K.N., and Mayer, J.W. (Wiley, New York, 1978), p. 161.Google Scholar
10. Kaur, I. and Gust, W., Fundamentals of Grain and Interphase Boundary Diffusion (Ziegler Press, Stuttgart, 1989).Google Scholar
11. Seah, M.P. and Dench, W.A., Surf. Interface Anal. 1, 2 (1979).Google Scholar
12. Venables, J.A., Spiller, G.D.T., and Hanbücken, M., Rep. Prog. Phys. 47, 399 (1984).Google Scholar
13. Van der Voort, G.F., Metallography Principles and Practice (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1984), p. 449.Google Scholar
14. Landolt-Börnstein, Numerical Data and Functional Relationships in Science and Technology, edited by Madelung, O. and Mehrer, H. (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1990), Group III, Vol. 26, p. 52.Google Scholar
15. Gertsriken, S.D., Yatsenko, T.K., and Slastnikova, L.F., Prob. Phys. Met. Metall. (Voprosy Fiz. Met. Metallov.), Akad. Nauk SSSR 9, 154 (1959).Google Scholar
16. Zhu, J. and Bertram, H.N., J. Appl. Phys. 63, 3248 (1988).Google Scholar