Effect of Mo interlayer on magnetic properties of exchange coupled Sm-Co/Fe bilayers

Sm-Co/Fe, hard/soft magnetic bilayers have been fabricated on 70 nm Cr buffered Si (100) substrate by dc and rf magnetron sputtering and annealed at 525OC for 30min. Very thin Mo layers (0-0.7 nm) were introduced between Sm-Co and Fe layers. The samples were analyzed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Alternating Gradient Magnetometer (AGM). All of the samples showed strong exchange coupling between hard and soft magnetic phases. Magnetization, coercivity and energy product (BH)max suggest a sinusoidal behavior. The energy product was found increased to 45% for 0.3 nm Mo interlayer as compared to sample without Mo layer.