Delopment Process Production Structural Magnetic Study FePt Ordered Thin Films

Author(s)

Alessandro Martins

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física (IF/SBI)
• Defense date: 2004-04-12

Examining board members

Antonio Domingues dos Santos; Luiz Carlos Sampaio Lima; Helena Maria Petrilli; Aline Yvette Ramos; João Edgar Schmidt

• Advisor: Antonio Domingues dos Santos

Abstract

FePt alloy films, with a chemically ordered face-centered-tetragonal FCT (type LI IND.0) structure and [001] texture, present perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, high coactivity and large polar magneto-optical Kerr effect. However, completely ordered films are usually obtained either by sputtering process at high substrate temperatures (T IND.s MAIOR IGUAL A 600°C) or by postanneling treatment at temperatures higher than 500°C. For technological purposes the preparation temperatures has to be as low as possible. In this work we have searched the more adequate conditions to preparation of FePt films with ordered FCT(001) phase at reduced temperatures. We have investigated the influence of deposition methods, substrate temperature, thickness of film, and type of substrate on the degree of the chemical ordering and preferred texture of FePt films and, consequently, on their magnetic properties. The Fe IND.xPt IND.1-x alloy thin films (with x SEMELHANTE A 50 at%) were prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering, via two different deposition methods: a conventional code position method and an alternate monatomic layer (DAM) deposition method. The films were grown on SiO IND.2/Si (100), Si (100) and MgO (100) substrates, with and without a Pt buffer layer (thickness ranging from 50 to 76 nm), at T IND.s varying from room temperature to 600°C. The Pt buffer layer was used for obtaining better conditions to the induction of an epitaxial grown of FePt films with the ordered FCT(001) phase. The results of structural and magnetic characterization performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) show that the MgO substrates are adequate to induce an epitaxial growth of FePt films with a FCT structure and [001] texture. However, with the use of an optimized Pt FCC(100) buffer layer pre-deposited on MgO, the best conditions to an epitaxial induced growth were obtained, by both deposition methods. The results show also that the quality of the epitaxial induced growth depends on the thickness of the film. In relation to the deposition method in comparison to the code position method for preparation of FePt FCT(001) films, at reduced temperatures (T IND.s MENOR IGUAL A 400°C). With the use of the DAM method it was possible to obtain the ordered FCT(001) phase in the FePt film grown directly on MgO, at T IND.s = 400°C. For FePt film grown on Pt/MgO, the formation of the FCT(001) phase was verified at T IND.s = 200°C, and high degree of chemical order (S=0,88) was obtained at T IND.s = 400°C. X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) studies also were done. (AU)