Low-temperature growth of perpendicular FePt films

L1/sub 0/ FePt films with high perpendicular coercivity were successfully fabricated by using Cr/sub 65/Mo/sub 15/Mn/sub 20/ underlayers with subsequent forming gas (Ar 95% + H/sub 2/ 5%;) annealing. To adjust the strain energy and the orientation of FePt, Fe and Pt intermediate layers were used. Samples annealed at 275/spl deg/C with thin Pt layers (<5 nm) show relatively small coercivity due to the stabilizing effects from the underlayers. With the increasing thickness of Pt, the strain was locally released and the (111) grains appeared. The nucleation of the ordered L1/sub 0/ FePt phase accompanied the formation of the FePt (111) phase, resulting in a high coercivity but deteriorated perpendicular anisotropy. To maintain the [001] preferred orientation with high coercivity, the sample with a 3.5-nm Pt layer was annealed at 350/spl deg/C. The coercivity as high as 8400 Oe was realized.