The role of atomic mobility during film growth in the structural and magnetic properties of CoCr

We have studied the morphological, crystallographic, and magnetic properties of CoCr thin films sputtered at different substrate temperatures and pressures. Conditions which produce high adatom mobility on the surface of the growing film lead to good c-axis orientation and magnetic anisotropy normal to the substrate, while low mobility leads to poor c-axis orientation and anisotropy. These results are explained in terms of van der Drift's model of the evolutionary growth of vapor-deposited films. The perpendicular coercivities of our samples depend only on the substrate temperature and we find no correlation with the film morphology or grain size.