Abstract
The magnetic characteristics of novel laminated antiferro-magnetically coupled soft magnetic underlayers (AFC-SULs) were investigated. The Co/Ru/Co structure is used as a basic unit for SULs. The antiferro-magnetically coupled soft underlayer with the structure of Glass/Ta (2nm)/Cu (1.5nm)/IrMn (8nm)/Co 90 Fe 10 (25nm)/Ru (1 nm)/ Co 90 Fe 10 (25 nm) showed significantly large exchange-bias fields of upper CoFe (123 Oe) and lower CoFe (160 Oe). Moreover, excellent thermal stability of exchange-bias field of AFC-SUL was also confirmed, demonstrating its potential for the applications of double-layered perpendicular recording media. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.