Soft magnetic properties of sub 10 nm NiFe and Co films encapsulated with Ta or Cu

Magnetic properties of NiFe and Co thin films with thicknesses ranging from 2.5 to 10 nm have been studied. These films were encapsulated with 5 nm thick Ta or Cu films that have been commonly used for underlayer and capping purposes in magnetic sensors. NiFe samples were anisotropic and exhibited magnetic softness (low coercivity and low magnetostriction). The Cu/Co/Cu samples possessed low saturation magnetostriction of about −2 × 10−6 for the entire thickness range examined. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)