Mechanism of coercivity enhancement by Ag addition in FePt-C granular films for heat assisted magnetic recording media

We investigated the Ag distribution in a FePtAg-C granular film that is under consideration for a heat assisted magnetic recording medium by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure. Ag is rejected from the core of FePt grains during the deposition, forming Ag-enriched shell surrounding L1(0)-ordered FePt grains. Since Ag has no solubility in both Fe and Pt, the rejection of Ag induces atomic diffusions thereby enhancing the kinetics of the L1(0)-order in the FePt grains. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.