Preparation and magnetic properties of highly coercive FePt films

The magnetization processes of highly ordered FePt(001) films with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy have been studied. The film morphology was controlled from isolated particles to continuous film by varying the nominal thickness (t(N)) of the FePt film sputter deposited directly on a MgO(001) substrate at an elevated temperature. A drastic change in the coercivity by one order of magnitude has been found at the critical thickness (t(N)=45 nm) where the film morphology changes from a particulate to a continuous state. A huge coercivity exceeding 40 kOe has been achieved in the film with t(N)=10 nm, which comprises single domain particles with an average lateral size of approximately 50 nm. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.