High-temperature magnetization anomaly in Co/Ag/Si(1 1 1) ultrathin films

High-temperature magnetic properties of ultrathin Co/Ag/Si(1 1 1) films were studied by surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE) in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber with a background pressure less than 1×10^-10 Torr. A 6 mono-layer (ML) Co layer was deposited on Si(1 1 1) surface with Ag as a buffer layer with the thickness being varied between 0 and 5.6 ML. Both polar and longitudinal MOKE (P- and LMOKE) were studied as a function of temperature between 300 and 550 K. It is interesting to note that the Kerr intensity of LMOKE for Co/Ag/Si(1 1 1) thin film with Ag thickness of 2.8 and 5.6 ML decreases with increasing temperature and vanishes near 475 K; it shows up again in the opposite direction above 475 K before vanishing again at 550 K. This was not observed for samples with Ag thickness less than 2.8 ML. This indicates that the Ag buffer layer is playing an important role in the variation of magnetization of Co at high temperature; in other words, stress or small Co/Co-Ag clusters formed by the diffusion between Ag and Co layer at high temperature may cause the magnetization anomaly.