FeAl underlayers for CoCrPt thin film longitudinal media

B2 ordered FeAl films with a small, uniform grain size have been produced by rf diode sputter deposition on glass substrates. CoCrPt films grown on FeAl underlayers were found to have the (<10(1)over bar 0>) lamellar texture. The in-plane coercivities (H-c) of the CoCrPt/FeAl films are comparable to those of the CoCrPt/Cr films and they can be further improved by inserting a thin Cr intermediate layer between the CoCrPt and the FeAl layers. By employing a MgO seed layer or a (002) textured Cr seed layer, (001) textured FeAl can be obtained. However, the (001) FeAl underlayer only induces a weak (<11(2)over bar 0>) textured CoCrPt. Thus no improvement in H-c, over these produced on unseeded FeAl underlayers was observed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.