Highly (001)-oriented Ni-doped L1₀ FePt films and their magnetic properties

Authors

M.L. Yan, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Yinfan Xu, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Xingzhong Li, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

5-15-2005

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. J. Applied Physics 97, 10H309 (2005). ©2005 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://jap.aip.org/jap/.

Abstract

We report on Ni-doped nonepitaxial L1₀ FePt thin films with strong (001) texture. The influences of Ni doping on L1₀ ordering, orientation, and the magnetic properties of the FePt films have been investigated. In-plane and out-of-plane x-ray diffractions (XRD) were used to analyze the texture of FeNiPt films. For [Fe(0.38 nm)/Ni(0.04 nm)/Pt(0.4)] ₁₃ sample, the out-of-plane XRD data showed only (00l) peaks and in-plane data showed (hk0) peaks after annealing, indicating high (001) texture of the FeNiPt films. In comparison with FePt, the (00l) peak positions shifted to higher angle, indicating partial Ni substitution in the L1₀ lattice. The coercivity, measured at room temperature, decreased as a function of Ni doping. For the film with a Ni layer thickness of 0.06 nm, the coercivity is about 6 kOe after annealing, which is suitable for the writing performance of high-anisotropy perpendicular recording media.