A comparison of FePt thin films with HfO2 or MnO additive

• Published in: Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials Vol. 260; no. 3; pp. 487 - 491
• Main Authors: PLATT, C. L, WIERMAN, K. W, HOWARD, J. K, ROY, A. G, LAUGHLIN, D. E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Science 01.04.2003
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Magnetic properties and materials; Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films; Magnetic properties of surface, thin films and multilayers; Magnetic recording materials; Physics; Studies of specific magnetic materials; Annealing; Discontinuous; 75.70.-i FePt; HfO2; Platinum alloys; 75.50.Ss; Iron alloys; L10; Experimental study; Texture; MnO; Thin films; Binary alloys; 68.37.-d; Coercive force; Ordering; Recording material; Microstructure; 68.55:-a; Transition element alloys
• ISSN: 0304-8853
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-8853(02)01386-0

The influence of oxide additives on the magnetic and structural properties of FePt L10 thin films has been studied. FePt films with HfO2 additive grown on a 5 nm MgO buffer showed a primarily random texture for both as-deposited and annealed samples. The average grain size was limited to 10 nm and the perpendicular coercivity was 1.3 kOe for a 1Onm thick FePt +20% HfO2 film annealed at 650DGC for 10 min. In direct contrast, Mno additive neither limited grain size nor L10 ordering in annealed FePt films. A lOnm thick FePt+20% MnO film grown on a 5nm MgO buffer showed a unique discontinuous microstructure composed of clusters of (001) textured L1)) grains after being annealed at 650DGC for 10 min. The average size of the grains making up these clusters was 50 nm and the perpendicular coercivity of the film exceeded 7 kOe.