Magnetic and Morphological Properties of Electrodeposited Thick FePt Films on Metallic (Au, Ag, Cu) Underlayers

Electrodeposited thick films of FePt (with the nominal composition 50 % Fe/50 % Pt) on three metallic (Au, Ag, Au) underlayers were annealed at various temperatures. The magnetic and morphological properties of the resulting films were then monitored. The Au and Ag underlayers promoted the growth of the (bct) L1₀ FePt phase. The greater growth of this phase in the films deposited on the Ag underlayer led to the crystallographic texturing in the (001) direction. This was accompanied by a significant magnetic anisotropy and a negative shift of the remanent magnetization in the presence of an applied field. The coercivity of the Ag underlayer films increased to 18 kOe while the coercivity of the Au underlayer films decreased to ～2 kOe when the annealing temperature was increased to 800 ^°C.     

Exchange-coupled Fe3O4/L10-FePt bilayer films by controlled oxidation of Fe/Pt multilayer

A Fe₃O₄/L1₀-FePt bilayer thin-film magnet was fabricated via a simple one-step process by annealing Fe/Pt multilayer thin films in a N₂ gas flow. X-ray diffraction and plane-view selected-area electron diffraction results are identified with magnetite phase (Fe₃O₄) and L1₀-FePt. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images show the two phases form a bilayer structure. Magnetic hysteresis loops of the bilayer show single phase behavior which is interpreted as a result of the soft Fe₃O₄ phase exchange-coupled with the hard L1₀-FePt phase, consistent with micromagnetic simulation prediction. Such bilayer structure may have potential for coercivity control in high density magnetic recording application.     

Effect of annealing in external magnetic field on the microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt films

We have studied the influence of annealing in an external magnetic field on the microstructure and magnetic properties of a multilayer Si/Fe(2 nm)/Fe₅₀Pt₅₀(20 nm)/Pt(2 nm) structure synthesized by means of sequential RF magnetron sputtering of the components. The magnetic field was oriented perpendicular to layers of the structure. It is established that annealing in the external magnetic field leads to the formation of predominant (001) texture in the multilayer structure with L1₀-FePt phase. Thus, a method of obtaining multilayer structures based on FePt films required for the perpendicular magnetic recording has been developed.     

Structure and properties of nanoporous FePt fabricated by dealloying a melt-spun Fe_(60)Pt_(20)B_(20) alloy and subsequent annealing

A nanoporous FePt alloy has been fabricated by dealloying a melt-spun Fe(60)Pt(20)B(20)alloy composed of nanoscale amorphous and face-centered-cubic FePt(fcc-FePt)phases in H2 SO4 aqueous solution.The nanoporous alloy consists of single fcc-FePt phase with an Fe/Pt atomic ratio of about 55.3/44.7,and possesses a uniform interpenetrating ligament-channel structure with average ligament and pore sizes of 27 nm and 12 nm,respectively.The nanoporous fcc-FePt alloy shows soft magnetic characteristics with a saturation magnetization of 37.9 emu/g and better electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation than commercial Pt/C in acidic environment.The phase transformation from disordered fcc-Fe Pt into ordered face-centered-tetragonal FePt(L10-FePt)in the nanoporous alloy has been realized after annealing at823-943 K for 600 s.The volume fraction of the L10-FePt phase in the alloy increases with the rise of annealing temperature,which results in the enhancements of coercivity and saturation magnetization from 0.14 kOe and 38.5 emu/g to 8.42 kOe and 51.4 emu/g,respectively.The ligament size of the samples is increased after annealing.     

Magnetic properties and structure of cobalt-platinum thin films

The magnetic properties of RF sputtered Co-Pt alloy thin films were studied as a function of Pt content from 0 to 80 at%. At room temperature, ferromagnetic films were obtained in the range 0-32 and 40-80 at% Pt. For Pt contents between 32 and 40 at%, discontinuities in the magnetization, magnetostriction, and coercivity versus Pt content were observed; however no discontinuity was observed in the resistivity. The structure of films containing about 25 at% Pt is a mixture of hexagonal and face-centered cubic (FCC) phases. At this composition the magnetostriction is small, but coercivities are large-700 to 2000 Oe-and dependent upon film thickness. The coercivities of these films do not change with heat treatment up to temperatures of 600°C but decrease markedly at 700°C. The properties of equiatomic Co-Pt film s are similar to those of bulk alloys. In particular the large coercivity observed in films after heal treatment at 500° to 700°C is due to the formation of an ordered tetragonal phase within the face-centered cubic matrix. The structure of films of about 75 at% Pt is initially a disordered face-centered cubic phase and with heat treatment beginning at 500°C an ordered face-centered cubic phase forms. The coercivity of these films (∼200 Oe) does not change with annealing at 500°C. It decreases slightly upon further annealing at 600°C to 700°C. Electron microscope observations were used to correlate the magnetic properties with film structure.     

Low temperature ordering of FePt films by in-situ heating deposition plus post deposition annealing

FePt thin films with 40 nm thickness were prepared on thermally oxidized Si (001) substrates by dc magnetron sputtering at the nominal growth temperature 375 °C. The effects of annealing on microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt thin films were investigated. The as-deposited FePt thin films show soft magnetic properties. After the as-deposited FePt thin films were annealed at various temperatures and furnace cooled, it is found that the ordering temperature of L1₀ FePt phase could be reduced to 350 °C. For FePt thin films annealed at 350 °C, the in-plane and out-of-plane coercivities of the films increased to 510 and 543 kA/m, respectively, and the films had hard magnetic properties. A highly (001) orientation was obtained, when FePt thin films were annealed at 600 °C. And the hysteresis loops of FePt thin films annealed at 600 °C show out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy.     

Local Lattice Distortion Effect on the Magnetic Ordering of the Heusler Alloy Co2FeAl0.5Si0.5 Film

A series of Heusler alloy Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 (CFAS) thin film on MgO(100) substrate has been fabricated by magnetron sputtering with in situ annealing process at a temperature of 350, 450, 550, and 650 °C, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-dependent Raman, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements have been performed to clarify the interplay between the structure and magnetic properties of the CFAS films. The XRD results reveal that both the crystallization and chemical ordering of the CFAS films are enhanced by the increasing annealing temperature. From the Raman spectroscopy, the representative Raman-active modes associated with L2₁ phase can be observed. The Raman mode at 843 cm ^?1 shows a strong temperature-dependent behavior, which has an obvious increase in intensity with the increasing of the annealing temperature as well. On the other hand, the increasing saturation magnetization and decreasing coercivity of the CFAS films with the increasing annealing temperature can be found by using the SQUID measurements. These structural and magnetic results of the CFAS films demonstrate that the crystallization and chemical ordering take the dominating role in the magnetic property. However, the variation of the Raman mode suggests that the local lattice distortion associated with the L2₁ phase cannot be considered as the origin of the magnetic disordering.     

Promotion of L10 ordering in Pt-rich nonepitaxially grown FePt films

Multilayer Fe/Pt films with atomic ratios Fe_xPt_100-x (x = 36 ~ 58) were deposited directly onto quartz glass substrates at room temperature through magnetron sputtering. Post-annealing from 300 °C to 600 °C was carried out to investigate the effect of varied compositions on the L1₀ ordering process. The result, which is different from that of co-sputtering growth, shows an obvious promotion of the phase transformation for slightly Pt-rich off-stoichiometric compositions with x between 40 and 50. The in-plane coercivity of Fe₄₈Pt₅₂ can reach 4.1 kOe even after annealing at 300 °C. This facilitated atomic diffusion and ordering might be related to the lattice expansion due to excessive Pt content.     

Effect of Zn Addition on the Reduction of the Ordering Temperature of FePt Nanoparticles

Monodisperse FePt nanoparticles with an average size of 4.11 nm were successfully synthesized via chemical co-reduction of iron acetylacetonate, Fe(acac)₃, and platinum acetylacetonate, Pt(acac)₂, by 1,2hexadecanediol as a reducing agent. Also (FePt)₈₇Zn₁₃ nanoparticles with average size of 4.24 nm were synthesized using the same method. The structural and magnetic properties of the prepared samples were respectively studied by XRD, TEM and VSM. L1₀ FePt ordered phase is formed at lower annealing temperature by addition of Zn. The (FePt)₈₇Zn₁₃ nanoparticles starts ordering after annealing at 400 °C, whereas FePt nanoparticles at 400 °C are still disordered alloys with superparamagnetic behavior. Additive Zn is very effective in decreasing the ordering temperature and enhancing the chemical ordering in (FePt)₈₇Zn₁₃ particles, So that coercivity 5200 Oe was measured for (FePt)₈₇Zn₁₃ nanoparticles annealed at 500 °C, compared with 1800 Oe for samples without Zn. This reduction in ordering temperature significantly reduces FePt particle coalescence and loss in positional order.     

Effects of Cu underlayer on the growth and magnetic properties of FePt thin films on MgO (001) substrate

During ordering process of face centered tegragonal (fct) L1(0) phase of the FePt alloy, there exist three growth variants of axes (001) from original disordered fcc structured phase. When FePt film was directly deposited on the MgO (001) substrate, the variant perpendicular to the film plane grew, resulting in a low out-of-plane coercivity of 1.3 kOe. By using Cu underlayer, two variants lying in the film plane got same chance to grow, which caused an in-plane perpendicular alignment of the tetragonal axes of FePt L1(0) phases. The crystallographic relationship between Cu and FePt layers is Cu (100)<100>//fct FePt (100)<100>. A high in-plane coercivity of 4.6 kOe was obtained due to the high density of micro-defects (mcro-twins, anti-phase boundaries, etc.) in the film plane. This work demonstrated a way of selecting the growth variants of ordering process to adjust the magnetic properties of the ordered FePt thin films.     

Magnetic properties and microstructures of sputtered epitaxial Co-rich Co-Pt films

Co₃Pt films of various thicknesses were deposited on Pt underlayers by conventional sputtering in order to investigate the effects of Pt underlayers and annealing temperatures on their microstructure and the magnetic properties. XRD and HRTEM analyses reveal perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in films of good epitaxial growth of Co₃Pt (002) on the Pt (111) underlayer when annealed at 300 °C. However, Pt atoms in the Pt underlayer will diffuse seriously into the Co₃Pt layer when the annealing temperature is increased to 375 °C. This changes the compositions to approach equiatomic CoPt, and shows in-plane magnetic anisotropy with soft magnetic properties.     

Synthesis of super-fine L10-FePt nanoparticles with high ordering degree by two-step sintering under high magnetic field

Super-fine L10-FePt nanoparticles (NPs) with high ordering degree were successfully prepared by a modified two-step sintering method,which includes low-temperature pre-sintering,and the high magnetic field (HMF) assisted post-sintering processes.The particle size of the L10-FePt NPs was obviously refined by lowering the sintering temperature.By applying the HMF during the post-sintering process,the fine size characteristics of L10-FePt NPs were retained,and the ordering degree was significantly improved.The L10-FePt NPs with sizes of about 4.5 nm,ordering degree of 0.940,and coercivity of 22.01 kOe were obtained by this two-step sintering under a magnetic field of 12 T.The mechanism investigation of HMF enhancing the ordering degree indicates that the HMF enhances lattice distortion and magnetization energy (Zeeman energy).The enhanced lattice distortions cause high stress existing in the lattice,which can effectively promote the disordered-order transition.When the magnetic field reaches to 3 T,the Zeeman energy of the NPs is higher than the thermal disturbing energy of the NPs,and the magnetization effect is stronger.Therefore,the HMF (higher than 3 T) can obviously improve the disorder-order transition by lowering the energy barrier and accelerating the orderly diffusions of atoms.The HMF is a promising assistant to synthesize the L10-phase NPs with both of high ordering degree and super-fine size.     

Optimization of L10-FePt/MgO/CrRu thin films for next-generation magnetic recording media

L1₀-FePt thin films were deposited on silicon substrates with the structure of Si/CrRu/MgO/FePt. The magnetic and microstructural properties were optimized by varying the FePt sputter pressure and temperature, as well as the thicknesses of all three layers. High coercivity films greater than 1.8 T were grown when the FePt sputter pressure was at 1.33 Pa with a thickness of only 4 nm, on CrRu and MgO underlayers as thin as 10 nm and 2 nm, respectively.     

Onset of hard magnetic L10 FePt phase with (001) texture

The perpendicular anisotropic magnetic properties of in-situ deposited FePt/Pt/Cr trilayer films were elucidated as functions of the deposition temperature and the sputtering rate of the FePt magnetic layer. Ordered L1₀ FePt thin films with perpendicular anisotropy and a (001) texture can be developed at a temperature as low as 300 °C with the sputtering of a FePt layer at a low rate. The larger Pt(001)[100] lattice induced an expansion of the FePt a- and b-axis, leading to the contraction of the FePt c-axis, enabling the epitaxial growth of the L1₀ FePt(001) texture to occur. A low rate of sputtering of the FePt thin film promotes the formation of the magnetically hard FePt(001) texture on the surface of the Pt(001) buffer layer at low temperature, while the high sputtering rate of FePt layer suppresses the phase transformation.     

Thermal Treatment Influence on the Magnetic Properties and Degree of Orientation of BaFe12O19 Films

The process of preparation of oriented BaFe₁₂O₁₉ films with deposition of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles from 1-butanol suspension in a magnetic field was studied. The structural, microstructural, and magnetic properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, and magnetic measurements and the annealing conditions influence on the films?? orientations and microstructures was explored. The best BaFe₁₂O₁₉ film properties, saturation magnetization of 49?emu?g^?1, high values of coercive field (4.4?kOe), and squareness ratio of 0.92, were obtained on well-crystallized oriented BaFe₁₂O₁₉ films annealed at 1050?°C for 30?h.     

Annealing behaviour and magnetic properties of Co/Pt and Fe/Pt bilayer thin films

The annealing behaviour and magnetic properties of Co/Pt and Fe/Pt bilayer thin films are investigated. The coercivity of Co/Pt bilayer thin films increases with annealing above 450 °C and shows a peak value of 40 kA m⁻¹ in the range from 500 to 550 °C. This increase is due to both the formation of a CoPt solid solution and the optimization of grain diameters. Furthermore, the increase is promoted by multilayering. Similar results were obtained for Fe/Pt bilayer thin films.     

FePt-Ag nanocomposite thin films with longitudinal magnetic anisotropy

A well-controlled method to fabricate FePt thin films with the (200) texture and longitudinal magnetic anisotropy for high-density magnetic recording media is reported. FePt-Ag nanocomposite thin films with L1(0) ordered FePt grains embedded in an Ag matrix were deposited on the Cr90Ru10/glass by co-sputtering from Ag and FePt targets. The Ag doping suppressed the (001) texture but improved the L1(0) FePt (200) texture. The magnetic easy axis of FePt-Ag thin films changed from perpendicular to longitudinal in direction. In-plane coercivity of the films varied from 0.8 kOe to 6.5 kOe, depending on Ag contents in the films and under-layer thickness. The change from the (001) to (200) texture could be due to the competition of grain-boundary energy and epitaxial-strain energy.     

Effect of Ag underlayer on microstructures and perpendicular magnetic properties of CoPt nanocomposite thin films

CoPt/Ag films were prepared by magnetron sputtering on glass substrates and subsequent annealing. The dependence of degree of ordering and magnetic properties on Ag film thickness and annealing conditions were investigated. It was found that the Ag underlayer played a dominant role in inducing the (001) texture of the CoPt film after annealing. CoPt films with a thickness about 20 nm and Ag underlayers with a thickness about 70 nm are easy to obtain a large degree of ordering and a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy after annealing at 700 degrees C for 30 min. CoPt/Ag films with out-of-plane coercivity (Hc (perpendicular)) in the range of 13.5-14.0 kOe and a out-of-plane squareness (S(perpendicular)) of 0.97 were obtained after annealing at 700 degrees C for 30 min. Ag underlayer is beneficial to enhance the Hc(perpendicular)and S(perpendicular) of CoPt film significantly. The degree of ordering and perpendicular magnetic properties of the CoPt films which deposited on Ag underlayer are larger than those of the single layer CoPt films.     

Electrical properties of vanadium tungsten oxide thin films

The vanadium tungsten oxide thin films deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by RF sputtering exhibited good TCR and dielectric properties. The dependence of crystallization and electrical properties are related to the grain size of V_1.85W_0.15O₅ thin films with different annealing temperatures. It was found that the dielectric properties and TCR properties of V_1.85W_0.15O₅ thin films were strongly dependent upon the annealing temperature. The dielectric constants of the V_1.85W_0.15O₅ thin films annealed at 400 °C were 44, with a dielectric loss of 0.83%. The TCR values of the V_1.85W_0.15O₅ thin films annealed at 400 °C were about −3.45%/K.     

Annealing Effect on Structural and Magnetic Properties of Cu2MnAl Heusler Alloy Films

Cu₂MnAl Heusler alloy films were grown on MgO (001) substrates by using the ion beam sputtering technique. The films were post-annealed at varying temperatures in order to investigate the influence of annealing on crystal structure and magnetic properties. The structural properties of Cu₂MnAl films have been investigated by using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and magnetic properties have been investigated by both vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) techniques. The experimental data indicates that the crystal structure of the films strongly depends on the annealing temperature. When the films were annealed at 200?°C, the saturation magnetization (M _s =250?emu/cm³) achieved its maximum and the coercive field (H _c ??7?Oe) reached its minimum with B2 ordered structure. In addition, FMR results have revealed that the Cu₂MnAl film annealed 200?°C has the highest effective magnetization. The combination of structural and magnetic characterization indicates that the optimum growth temperature is 200?°C for the Cu₂MnAl Heusler alloy films on MgO substrates.