Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Pd/Co₂MnSi/Co/Pd multilayer

Pd/Co₂MnSi (CMS)/Co/Pd multilayer films were designed based on the idea of combining highly spin-polarized materials with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) films. The PMA of Pd/CMS/Co/Pd multilayer films was studied by optimizing the growth conditions and thickness of each film layer. The optimal structure of the multilayer films was Pd(6 nm)/CMS(5 nm)/Co(2 nm)/Pd(1 nm). Its abnormal Hall resistance (R_Hall), coercivity (H_c) and effective magnetic anisotropy constant (K_eff) are 0.08 Ω, 284 Oe and 1.36 Merg/cm³, respectively, which are 100%, 492%, and 183% higher than the corresponding values (0.04 Ω, 48 Oe, and 0.48 Merg/cm³) of the Pd(6 nm)/Co(1 nm)/Pd(3 nm) trilayer films. The analysis shows that the increases of the above values are the result of the Pd/CMS interface effect and CMS/Co interface ferromagnetic (FM) coupling, and that it is closely related to the thickness of each film layer in the multilayer films and the growth conditions of the multilayer films.