Co/CoAl/Co trilayer fabrication using spontaneous intermixing of Co and Al: Molecular dynamics simulation

A multilayer structure was simulated using spontaneous intermixing of Co and Al in epitaxial Co(112-bar 0)/CoAl/Co(112-bar 0) structures. When Al atoms with 0.1eV energy were deposited on Co(112-bar 0), an Al(100) thin film was grown without any intermixing. Interestingly, during subsequent deposition of Co atoms on the grown Al(100) thin film, an intermixed layer of ordered CoAl structure was spontaneously formed and a highly oriented Co(112-bar 0) crystalline phase was grown above the intermixed region. From the calculations of nearest neighbor distributions, various compositions of CoxAl1-x structures were observed in the mixed region