Characterizations of Co/Al2O3/Co/NiFe multilayers elaborated by ultra-high vacuum ion beam sputtering

Abstract Ion beam sputtering is used for elaborating ferromagnetic Co/Al 2 O 3 /Co/NiFe multilayers. The interface state and the roughness of the multilayer are examined by TEM and AFM. The insulating layer is found to be homogenous with a low RMS roughness. Magnetic properties of each electrode and of the full stack are studied by P-MOKE and AGFM. The magnetic behaviour of the full stack is characteristic of two switching fields with a Neel coupling.