Multilayered Co/Pd thin films were prepared by sequential electron-beam evaporation of Co and Pd onto Si substrates at room temperature. The thicknesses of the Co sublayer and of the Pd sublayer were varied between 2.0–10.3 and 4.5–22.3 Å, respectively. As the Pd sublayer thickness was varied at constant Co thickness, broad maxima in the saturation magnetization Ms and intrinsic perpendicular anisotropy energy Ku were observed at a Pd thickness of about 10 Å. At this maximum, Ms per Co volume is larger than the saturation magnetization of bulk Co. This is believed to be caused by the polarization of the Pd atoms within about 10 Å of the Co layer. Ku and Ms per Co volume both decrease with increasing Co layer thickness.

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We have investigated the effects of sputtering Ar gas pressure on magnetic and magneto-optical properties in compositionally modulated Co/Pd thin films. The samples were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering from 2-in.-diam Co and Pd targets by alternately exposing the substrates to targets. Sputtering Ar gas pressure was varied from 2 to 30 mTorr. All samples had same bilayer thicknesses composed of 2-A-thick Co and g-.&-thick Pd sublayers. It was observed that the intrinsic uniaxial anisotropy energy, magnetization, and polar Kerr rotation were monotonically decreased with increasing Ar gas pressures more than about 10 mTorr. Interestingly enough, the coercivity showed a thirtyfold enhancement as Ar gas pressure varied from 2 to 30 mTorr. We believe that the results are mainly ascribed to the variation of microstructure with sputtering Ar gas pressure.

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