A Study of Fabrication Process for L10 FePt-Based HAMR Media

The effect of the fabrication process on magnetic, textural, and microstructural properties of the L
₁₀
ordered FePt heat-assisted magnetic recording media with basic structure of NiTa/MgO/X/FePt-C/FePt-SiO
₂
was investigated. Compared with the one-step heating process, both postannealing and two-step heating processes enhanced the chemical ordering of FePt. The two-step heating sample demonstrated improved lateral grain isolation and smaller grain sizes. Results suggested that the higher deposition temperature could improve the phase separation of FePt and SiO
₂
, thus improving the microstructure of FePt-based granular films. Diffusion of Ta from NiTa seedlayer into MgO underlayer was also observed causing the amorphization of the MgO near the NiTa/MgO interface.