Nanostructure and magnetic properties of L1₀ FePt:X films

Authors

• Thomas A. George, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Zhen Li, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Minglang Yan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Yingfan Xu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Ralph Skomski, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1-17-2008

Comments

Published by Am Inst of Physics. J. Appl. Phys. 103, 07D502 2008. Copyright 2008. Permission to use. http://www.aip.org/.

Abstract

Nonepitaxial FePt: X films (X =Cu,Au,CuAu) with tunable magnetic properties are fabricated and investigated. Emphasis is on controlling and adjusting the magnetic properties of high-density perpendicular recording media through exchange decoupling and anisotropy. The films are initially deposited as multilayers with the structure [FePt&#;X]_n and have individual thicknesses from about 0.06 to 1.1 nm. To create an (001)-oriented granular L10 structure, the films are then annealed at temperatures of 600 °C for 5 min and 550 °C for 10 min. The data indicate that Cu enters the L10 lattice whereas Au segregates at the grain boundaries and reduces the intergranular exchange coupling. For X=CuAu, we obtain coercivities H_c below 10 kOe, and slopes α =(dM&#;dH)H_c of about 1. For X=Cu, we find a favorable reduction in Curie temperature and H_c.