Nanostructure and magnetic properties of composite CoPt:C films for extremely high-density recording

The nanostructure and magnetic properties of composite CoPt:C films at room temperature were investigated as a function of annealing temperature, carbon concentration, and film thickness. CoPt:C films with a variety of carbon concentrations were fabricated by cosputtering Co, Pt, and C onto water-cooled Si(100) substrates followed by annealing. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses indicate that nanocrystallites of face-centered-tetragonal (fct) CoPt phase, which has a uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant of about 5x10(7) erg/cm(3), can be formed in carbon matrix when the annealing temperature is higher than 600 degrees C. The grain sizes of the fct CoPt crystallites are about 10 nm and the coercivities can be as high as 12 kOe. Higher annealing temperature and lower carbon concentration generally lead to larger grain sizes and perhaps more complete formation of the fct CoPt phase, and therefore higher coercivities. The coercivity is insensitive to the film thickness until the thickness is smaller than the CoPt grain size, when the coercivity starts to decrease with film thickness. The magnetic activation volumes are typically around 1x10(-18) cm(3). The nanostructure and the associated magnetic properties of these composite CoPt:C films are promising as potential media for extremely high-density recording. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)46808-8].