Preparation and characterization of Co single-crystal thin films with hcp, fcc and bcc structures

Co crystals with three different structures are realized in the form of single-crystal thin films hetero-epitaxially grown on single-crystal substrates by ultrahigh vacuum rf magnetron sputtering. hcp-, fcc-, and bcc-Co single-crystal films are formed on Cr(211)bcc, Cu(100)fcc, and GaAs(110)B3, respectively. The film growth process is studied by RHEED, and the lattice constants of these Co films are determined by x-ray diffraction. The magnetization properties of these thin films are reflecting the magnetocrystalline anisotropies of Co crystals with the easy magnetization axes along hcp<0001>, fcc<111>, and bcc<100> directions.