Structural and microstructural characterization in amorphous CoZrM (M = Zr, Nb, Ti) and CoZrPt thin films

Abstract The local structure affects the various magnetic properties of amorphous materials. Here, we report the results of the microstructure, the local structure and its relaxation as a function of annealing treatment performed on amorphous CoZrM (M = Zr, Nb, Ti) and CoZrPt thin films. The local disorder changes with the composition of the alloys and the deposition parameters: when M is consecutively substituted by Ti, Nb and Zr the local disorder increases. It appears to be the smallest in films containing Ti and largest in those with M = Zr. In CoZrPt alloys, the local disorder decreases for higher Pt content. The disorder changes with pressure p Ar during deposition, being the largest for the smallest pressure used and somewhat reduced when p Ar is increased. The structural evolution as a function of an annealing treatment allowed us to determine the thermal stability of the films and facilitated understanding of the thermomagnetic relaxation process.