A Study on the Magnetic and Electrical Properties of Al-Co/AIN-Co

Annealing techniques were applied to induce phase transformations and phase separations in AIN-Co thin films containing various amounts of Co content and AIN-Co/Al-Co multilayer thin films having different layer thicknesses, prepared by a two-facing-target type dc sputtering (TFTS) system. X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction techniques were used to examine the behavior of phase transformations and phase separations, and transmission electron microscopy were also used to evaluate the microstructural changes in the films. Magnetization and resistivity of the films were evaluated by VSM and four-probe method respectively. It was found that magnetization and resistivity were very sensitive to the phase transformations and phase separations as well as the changes in the microstructure of the films.