Effect of ZrO2 layer thickness on microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt/ZrO2 multilayers

✍ Scribed by Xiao-Hong Xu; Xiao-Li Li; Hai-Shun Wu

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 153 KB
• Volume: 121
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mseb.2005.03.024

✦ Synopsis

FePt (50 nm) and [FePt (x nm)/ZrO 2 (0.5, 1, 2, 3 nm)] 10 (x = 2, 5 nm) films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering technique, then were annealed at 550 • C for 30 min. This work investigates the effect of ZrO 2 layer thickness on structures and magnetic properties of FePt/ZrO 2 multilayers. The X-ray diffraction results show that superlattice (0 0 1) peaks can be found in FePt (50 nm) and [FePt (5 nm)/ZrO 2 (0.5, 1, 2, 3 nm)] 10 films. Compared with single layer FePt film, superlattice (0 0 1) peaks of FePt/ZrO 2 multilayers are wider and weaker, which indicates that introducing ZrO 2 is advantageous to hinder the growth of FePt grains. The coercivities, grain size and intergrain interactions of FePt/ZrO 2 films are decreased when ZrO 2 layer thickness is increased. And grain volume (V grain ) is almost identical to activation volume (V * ) for added-ZrO 2 films. Thus, the FePt/ZrO 2 films with the appropriate coercivities, the small size of grains, and the weak intergrain interactions are obtained.