Underlayer diffusion-induced enhancement of coercivity in high anisotropy FePt thin films

The L1₀ ordered FePt films have been prepared at 300 °C with a basic structure of CrRu/MgO/FePt, followed by a post-annealing process at temperatures from 200 to 350 °C. The magnetic properties and the microstructure of the films were investigated. It is found that coercivity of FePt films increases greatly from 3.57 to 9.1 kOe with the increasing annealing temperature from 200 to 350 °C. The loop slope of the M–H curves decreases with the increasing annealing temperature, which is due to the grain isolation induced by MgO underlayer diffusion during the annealing process. The underlayer diffusion could be a useful approach to prepare the FePt-based composite films for high-density recording media.     

Control of crystallographic orientation in L10 FePt films by using Cr and CrW underlayers

The microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt films grown on Cr and CrW underlayers were investigated. The FePt films that deposited on Cr underlayer show (2 0 0) orientation and low coercivity because of the diffusion between FePt and Cr underlayer. The misfit between FePt magnetic layer and underlayer increases by small addition of W element in Cr underlayer or using a thin Mo intermediate layer, which is favorable for the formation of (0 0 1) orientation and the transformation of FePt from fcc to fct phase. A good FePt (0 0 1) texture was obtained in the films with Cr₈₅W₁₅ underlayer with substrate temperature of 400 °C. The FePt films deposited on Mo/Cr underlayer exhibit larger coercivity than that of the films grown on Pt/Cr₈₅W₁₅ because 5 nm Mo intermediate layer depressed the diffusion of Cr into magnetic layer.     

Low-temperature ordering and enhanced coercivity of L10-FePt thin films with Al underlayer

FePt multilayer films with and without Al underlayer were prepared by magnetron sputtering on SiO₂ substrate and subsequently annealed in vacuum. Experimental results suggest that the existence of Al underlayer can effectively reduce the ordering temperature and increase the coercivity of FePt films. Due to the slight larger lattice constant of Al underlayer than that of FePt films, [Fe (0.66 nm)/Pt (0.84 nm)]₃₀ films begin to order at 350 °C and the coercivity of them reach to 5.7 kOe after annealing at 400 °C for half an hour.     

Microstructure and magnetic properties of nanocomposite FePt/MgO and FePt/Ag films

An in-plane magnetic anisotropy of FePt film is obtained in the MgO 5 nm/FePt t nm/MgO 5 nm films (where t=5, 10 and 20 nm). Both the in-plane coercivity (H_c∥) and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of FePt films are increased when introducing an Ag-capped layer instead of MgO-capped layer. An in-plane coercivity is 3154 Oe for the MgO 5 nm/FePt 10 nm/MgO 5 nm film, and it can be increased to 4846 Oe as a 5 nm Ag-capped layer instead of MgO-capped layer. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-energy disperse spectrum (EDS) analysis shows that the Ag mainly distributed at the grain boundary of FePt, that leads the increase of the grain boundary energy, which will enhance coercivity and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of FePt film.     

Magnetic properties and microstructure of x/FePt (x=Ge,GePt) bilayer

We have investigated the effect of Ge, GePt underlayers on the formation of ordered L1₀ FePt films. With Ge underlayer, the Ge₃Pt₂ compound was formed during post-annealing at 400 °C for 1 h. Interlayer diffusion of Ge and FePt layer suppress the formation of ordered L1₀ FePt phase. With Ge₂Pt₃ underlayer, the FePt film was ordered at 350 °C and the in-plane coercivity was 5.1 kOe. The ordering temperature was reduced to about 50 °C compared to the single-layer FePt film.     

Effect of Cr100−xTix (x = 0-19 at.%) alloy underlayers on the high coercivity of FePt thin film below the substrate temperature of 250 °C

The effect of Cr_100−xTi_x underlayer on orderd-L1₀ FePt films was investigated. A low-temperature ordering of FePt films could be attained through changing the Ti content of Cr_100−xTi_x underlayer. The ordering temperature of the 30 nm FePt film grown on 20 nm Cr₉₀Ti₁₀ underlayer was reduced to 250 °C which is practical manufacture process temperature. An in-plane coercivity was very high to 6000 Oe and a ratio of remnant magnetization (M_r) to saturation magnetization (M_s) was as large as 0.85. This result indicates that the coercivity obtained at 250 °C by the effect of CrTi underlayer is significantly higher than those obtained at 250-275 °C by the effect of underlayers in other conventional studies. The prominent improvement of the magnetic properties of ordered FePt thin films at low temperature of 250 °C could be understood with considering the strain-induced ordering phase transformation associated with lattice mismatch between Cr underlayer and FePt magnetic layer due to an addition of Ti content.     

Amorphous Ni-Al underlayer-accelerated L10 ordering transition of FePt thin films

In the present study, we succeeded in accelerating the L1₀ ordering transition of FePt thin films by employing amorphous Ni-Al as underlayers. The coercivity H_c = 5 kOe and ordering parameter S = 0.67 of FePt thin films deposited on a Ni-Al underlayer with a thickness of ∼5 nm after 380 °C annealing for 30 min are significantly higher than those H_c = 0.4 kOe and S = 0.35 of the films without the Ni-Al underlayer. The L1₀ ordering process of and the coercivity of FePt thin films can be significantly tuned by varying the thickness of the Ni-Al underlayer.     

Effect of GePt buffer layer on magnetic properties and microstructure of FePt films

We have explored the interlayer diffusion effect of Ge/FePt, GePt/FePt bilayer on the formation of ordered L1₀ FePt phase. In Ge/FePt bilayer, the Ge₃Pt₂ compound was formed during post annealing at 400^oC for 1.0 h. Diffusion between Ge and FePt layer suppres the formation of ordered L1₀ FePt phase. With Ge₂Pt₃ underlayer, the FePt film was ordered at 400 °C and the in-plane coercivity was 9.3 kOe. The ordering temperature was reduced about 50 °C compared to the single layer FePt film.     

Microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt:Ag nanocomposite films on SiO2/Si(1 0 0)

FePt:Ag nanocomposite films were prepared by pulsed filtered vacuum arc deposition system and subsequent rapid thermal annealing on SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrates. The microstructure and magnetic properties were investigated. A strong dependence of coercivity and ordering of the face-central tetragonal structure on both Ag concentration and annealing temperature was observed. With Ag concentration of 22% in atomic ratio, the coercivity got to 6.0 kOe with a grain size of 6.7 nm when annealing temperature was 400 °C.     

Magnetic properties and microstructure study of high coercivity Au/FePt/Au trilayer thin films

High-coercivity Au(60 nm)/FePt(δ nm)/Au(60 nm) trilayer samples were prepared by sputtering at room temperature, followed by post annealing at different temperatures. For the sample with δ=60 nm, L1₀ ordering transformation occurs at 500 °C. Coercivity (H_c) is increased with the annealing temperature in the studied range 400–800 °C. The H_c value of the trilayer films is also varied with thickness of FePt intermediate layer (δ), from 27 kOe for δ=60 nm to a maximum value of 33.5 kOe for δ=20 nm. X-ray diffraction data indicate that the diffusion of Au atoms into the FePt L1₀ lattice is negligible even after a high-temperature (800 °C) annealing process. Furthermore, ordering parameter is almost unchanged as δ is reduced from 60 to 15 nm. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) photos indicate that small FePt Ll₀ particles are dispersed amid the large-grained Au. We believe that the high coercivity of the trilayer sample is attributed to the small and uniform grain sizes of the highly ordered FePt particles which have perfect phase separation with Au matrix.     

Enhancement of L10 ordered FePt by Pt buffer layer

L₁₀-ordered FePt thin films prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy on MgO (0 0 1) substrate at 320 °C with different thickness of Pt buffer layer have been investigated. The out-of-plane coercivity increases with increasing thickness of Pt buffer. The maximum values of the long-range order parameter and uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy are 0.72 and 1.78×10⁷ erg/cm³, respectively, for films with 12 nm thick Pt buffer layer, where the c/a ratio (0.976) shows the minimum value. The reason for the enhancement in ordering is due to the proper lattice strains Pt buffer bestows on FePt layer, these strains are equal to the contraction in lattice parameter c and the expansion in a. Studies of angular-dependent coercivity revealed that the magnetization reversal behaviour shifts from a domain-wall motion dominated case towards a near rotational mode with increasing thickness of Pt buffer layer.     

Strongly in-plane magnetized FePt thin film on ultrathin Fe underlayer

The effect of ultrathin Fe underlayer on the strong in-plane magnetization of FePt magnetic thin film was investigated. This FePt thin film could be attained using the ultrathin Fe underlayer with 1 nm thickness. The in-plane coercivity of FePt film with 20 nm thickness grown on ultrathin Fe underlayer was high up to 7400 Oe. However, its out-of-plane coercivity was extremely low to 350 Oe compared to those of FePt thin films in other conventional studies. This result indicates that FePt thin film was strongly in-plane magnetized by ultrathin Fe underlayer. The strong ordering phase transformation kinetics and the high texturing to in-plane direction of the FePt thin film by ultrathin Fe underlayer were confirmed by Kinetics Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation and XRD measurement result, respectively. It is also supposed that they are associated with the reduction of an interface free energy between the film and the substrate with an introduction of ultrathin underlayer.     

Low-temperature deposition of L10 FePt films for ultra-high density magnetic recording

A method based on strain-induced phase transformation was used to lower the ordering temperature of FePt films. The strain resulted from the lattice mismatch between the FePt film and the substrate or underlayer favored the ordering. The relationships between the lattice mismatch, the ordering of FePt film, and the corresponding magnetic anisotropic constant were investigated. A critical lattice mismatch near 6.33% was believed to be most suitable for improving the chemical ordering of the FePt films. CrX (X=Ru, Mo, W, Ti) alloys with (2 0 0) texture was used to control the easy axis and ordering temperature of FePt films on glass substrate. Large uniaxial anisotropy constant K_u?1×10⁷ erg/cm³, good magnetic squareness (∼1) and FePt(0 0 1) texture (rocking curve −5°) were obtained at the temperature T_s?250 °C when using CrRu underlayer. The diffusion from overlying layers of Ag and Cu and an inserted Ag pinning layer were effective in reducing the exchange decoupling and changing the magnetization reversal. The media noise was effectively reduced and the SNR was remarkably enhanced when a 2 nm Ag was inserted.     

Exchange interaction effect of TbCo/FePt bilayers

Interlayer exchange coupling in dc-magnetron sputtered Tb_29.6Co_70.4/FePt bilayers with different annealing temperatures of the FePt film have been investigated. The dependence of ordering degree on perpendicular magnetic properties of the FePt film was studied. The Tb_29.6Co_70.4/FePt film has high perpendicular coercivity and high saturated magnetization about 7.5 kOe, and 302 emu/cm³, respectively as the substrate temperature is 500 °C and annealing at 500 °C for 30 min. It also shows a strong exchange coupling between this FePt layer and Tb_29.6Co_70.4 layer. We also examined the interface wall energy in the exchange coupled Tb_29.6Co_70.4/FePt double layers.     

Bi底层对FePt薄膜的影响

利用磁控溅射的方法，在玻璃基片上制备了以Bi为底层的FePt薄膜，经不同温度真空热处理得到L1₀-FePt薄膜.研究了Bi做底层对FePt薄膜的有序化温度及矫顽力H_c的影响.实验结果表明：以Bi做底层的FePt薄膜在350℃实现低温有序，同时其H_c也有大幅度提高，并且可以在更大成分范围内获得H_c较高的L1₀-FePt薄膜.利用X射线光电子能谱研究了薄膜中Bi原子的分布情况，利用X射线衍射研究了薄膜的晶体学结构变化.结果表明,Bi底层在退火过程中的扩散促进了FePt薄膜有序度的升高. 关键词： 0-FePt薄膜')" href="#">L1₀-FePt薄膜 有序化温度 底层 扩散     

Thermal annealing of FePt thin films by millisecond plasma arc pulses

A series of 20 and 100 nm Fe₅₃Pt₄₇ thin films sputter-deposited onto Si substrates have been thermally annealed using a pulsed thermal plasma arc lamp. A series of one, three or five pulses were applied to the thin films with widths of either 50 or 100 ms. The microstructure and magnetic properties of these annealed Fe₅₃Pt₄₇ films are discussed according to the various annealing conditions and A1 to L1₀ phase transformation. Upon pulse annealing, the average in-plane grain size of 15 nm (nearly equivalent for both film thicknesses) was observed to increase to values near 20 nm. In general, increasing the pulse width or number of pulses increased the L1₀ order parameter, tetragonality of the c/a ratio and coercivity of the specimen. The exception to this trend was for five pulses at 100 ms for both film thicknesses, which indicated a reduction of the order parameter and coercivity. This reduction is believed to be a result of the interdiffusion of Fe and Pt into the Si substrate and the formation of iron oxide clusters in the grain boundaries characterized by atom probe tomography.     

L10 FePt films epitaxially grown on MgO substrates with or without a Cr underlayer

FePt and FePt/Cr films were epitaxially grown on MgO (2 0 0) substrates at 350 °C by DC magnetron sputtering. The structural properties and epitaxial relationship are investigated by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD spectra revealed that both FePt and FePt/Cr films had a (0 0 1) preferred orientation. However, FePt films with Cr underlayers had a larger a and a smaller c than those of the samples without Cr underlayers. Furthermore, the FePt (0 0 1) peak characterized by its rocking curves became less pronounced when the Cr underlayer was applied. The off-spectra from the MgO (1 1 1), Cr (1 0 1) and FePt (1 1 1) demonstrated that the epitaxial relationship between the FePt film, Cr underlayer and MgO substrate was confirmed to be FePt (0 0 1)<100> || Cr (1 0 0)<1 1 0> || MgO (1 0 0)<0 0 1>. The domain size and M_s decreased when the Cr underlayer was applied due to the diffusion of Cr and the existence of the initial layer between Cr and FePt layers.     

Very high coercivities of top-layer diffusion Au/FePt thin films

The Au/FePt samples were prepared by depositing a gold cap layer at room temperature onto a fully ordered FePt layer, followed by an annealing at 800 °C for the purpose of interlayer diffusion. After the deposition of the gold layer and the high-temperature annealing, the gold atoms do not dissolve into the FePt Ll₀ lattice. Compared with the continuous FePt film, the TEM photos of the bilayer Au(60 nm)/FePt(60 nm) show a granular structure with FePt particles embedded in Au matrix. The coercivity of Au(60 nm)/FePt(60 nm) sample is 23.5 kOe, which is 85% larger than that of the FePt film without Au top layer. The enhancement in coercivity can be attributed to the formation of isolated structure of FePt ordered phase.     

室温生长MgO底层诱导(001)取向FePt薄膜的有序化过程对FePt成分的依赖

室温下通过磁控溅射在表面热氧化的Si基片上生长了MgO/Fe_xPt_100-x双层膜和Fe_xPt_100-x单层膜系列样品，Fe_xPt_100-x的原子成分x=48—68.研究了热处理前后不同成分FePt薄膜的晶体结构和磁性的变化，尤其是MgO底层的引入对FePt的晶体结构和磁性的影响 关键词： FePt(001)薄膜 0相')" href="#">L1₀相     

Magnetic viscosity effects in epitaxial L10 FePt thin films and exchange spring Fe–FePt bilayers

We have studied the thermal stability of L1₀ FePt thin films and Fe–FePt exchange-spring (ES) bilayers grown on (1 0 0) MgO by RF sputtering. The viscosity curves showed both for FePt films and bilayers a clear logarithmic decay of magnetization. Moreover, it was possible to evaluate the viscosity coefficient S for different applied reverse fields and the activation volumes at the coercivity. The latter values were then related to structural, magnetic and morphological measurements performed on the samples.