10 pagesInternational audienceWe report on the evolution of the structure and composition of a Pt(3 nm)/Co(0.6 nm)/AlOx(2 nm) trilayer sputtered on Si/SiO2 under oxidation and annealing processes by combined x-ray reflectivity and x-ray absorption studies. We describe the progressive and inhomogeneous oxidation of the layers by increasing the oxidation time. Before annealing, the layers have lower density than bulk samples and noticeable roughness. After thermal annealing, a significant improvement of the quality of the alumina layer goes along with the formation of a CoPt alloy that reduces the number of Co-O bonds. These structural outcomes clarify the evolution of the magnetic and transport properties reported at room temperature in these samples

Hysteresis-loop measurements using an extraordinary Hall effect are carried out at different temperatures (4.2-300 K) in Pt=Co=AlO x trilayers. The AlO x layer is prepared by plasma oxidation of the Al capping layer during various oxidation times. The samples are subsequently annealed at different temperatures ð300°C-450°CÞ. Most of the samples exhibit perpendicular anisotropy of increasingly high amplitude as the measurement temperature decreases. In addition, some samples exhibit unusual phenomena such as a temperature-induced reorientation of anisotropy from in plane to out of plane or a large increase of anisotropy at low temperature associated with the onset of exchange bias. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, coercivity, thermally induced anisotropy reorientation, and exchange-bias effects are explained by the influence of different chemical bonds, namely, Co─Al, Co─O, and Co─Pt, which appear and/or evolve as a function of oxidation time and annealing temperature. They are linked to the formation of new phases such as CoO or CoPt alloy and to the evolution of the Co=AlO x , Co=Pt, and Co=CoO interfaces modified by the oxidation time and the interdiffusion between species taking place during the anneals.

Two key parameters were analyzed in Si/SiO/Pt/Co/AlOx: the oxidation time of the Al layer resulting in AlOx, and the ex situ annealing temperatures varied in the 15 and 55 s and 20, 300, and 450  °C ranges, respectively. For intermediate annealing temperatures (∼300  °C), the quantitative analysis of specular reflectometry data shows that the progressive oxidation of layers by increasing the oxidation time goes along with an improvement of the homogeneity of the alumina layer. This outcome casts new light on the temperature dependence of magnetic properties of the samples. The remarkable temperature variation of the coercive field, extracted from extraordinary Hall effects in the 5–300 K range, is associated with structural change due to Co–oxygen bondings, which leads to strong pinning of Co spins in the low temperature regime.