Understanding the growth of high-aspect-ratio grains in granular L10-FePt thin-film magnetic media
Abstract
A systematic investigation has been performed to optimize the microstructure of L10-FePt-SiOx granular thin film as recording media for heat-assisted magnetic recording. The FePt-BN nucleation layer, which is stable even at 700 C, is used to control the grain sizes and microstructure during high-temperature processing. The study finds that films of high-aspect-ratio FePt grains with well-formed silicon oxide (SiOx) grain boundaries require the grading of the deposition temperature during film growth as well as the grading of the silicon oxide concentration. Well-isolated columnar grains of L10-FePt with an average height greater than 11 nm and diameters less than 7 nm have been achieved. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the microstructures of samples produced under a variety of non-optimal conditions is presented to show how the microstructure of the films depends on each of the sputtering parameters.
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