Synthesis and magnetic properties of size-selected CoPt nanoparticles

CoPt nanoparticles are widely studied, in particular for their potentially very high magnetic anisotropy. However, their magnetic properties can differ from the bulk ones and they are expected to vary with the particle size. In this paper, we report the synthesis and characterization of well-defined CoPt nanoparticle samples produced in ultrahigh vacuum conditions following a physical route: the mass-selected low energy cluster beam deposition technique. This approach relies on an electrostatic deviation of ionized clusters which allows us to easily adjust the particle size, independently from the deposited equivalent thickness (i.e. the surface or volume particle density in a sample). Diluted samples made of CoPt particles, with different diameters, embedded in amorphous carbon are studied by transmission electron microscopy and superconducting interference device magnetometry, which gives access to the magnetic anisotropy energy distribution. We then compare the magnetic properties of two different particle sizes. The results are found to be consistent with an anisotropy constant (including its distribution) which does not evolve with the particle size in the range considered. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.