Abstract
This paper describes the techniques which can be used to control the magnetic and magneto-optical hybrid recording properties of sputtered amorphous SmCoCu/Co thin films. SmCoCu/Co films with high coercivity are interesting for various applications including high density hybrid recording. In this work, SmCoCu/Co films on glass substrates have been systematically prepared at different substrate temperatures. The results show that the uniaxial anisotropy perpendicular to the film plane and the magneto-optical Kerr rotation are dependent upon the annealing time, substrate bias and heating used during deposition. A procedure for optimizing the magnetic and magneto-optical properties of SmCoCu/Co for magneto-optical and hybrid recording applications is outlined. With proper composition and suitable sputtering condition, these thin films have excellent magneto-optical and perpendicular characteristics.
