In-plane anisotropy in thin-film media analyzed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction [CoCrTaPt/Cr]

Co-alloy/Cr thin-film longitudinal magnetic recording media were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering onto circumferentially textured NiP/Al substrates at various deposition conditions. The in-plane crystallographic structure was analyzed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The coercivity is found to depend on both preferential c-axis alignment and compressive strain. In-plane anisotropy of coercivity increases with increasing in-plane anisotropy of both c-axis alignment and compressive strain. The degrees of these in-plane crystallographic anisotropies depend on the substrate temperature and substrate bias voltage.