Protection of Magnet-Optic Alloys Against Oxidation and Corrosion by Thin Duplex Films
Thin films of Fe or Co and rare-earth metals, such as Tb and Gd, are being developed as high density, mass memory storage media in magneto- optic devices. It is shown that a 10 nm duplex film consisting of a metal that is passivated in air, such as Cr or Al, and a diffusion barrier, such as Nb, will protect these alloys against oxidation and corrosion at temperature up to at least 200C and from interdiffusion with the protecting film.