Microstructure and magnetic properties of granular nanocomposite FePt/Ag multilayer films

FePt magnetic layer and Ag top layer are deposited subsequently onto the MgO underlayer and annealed at 400/spl deg/C for 30 min. It is found that a large Hc/sub /spl par// value of about 3923 Oe with nano-grain of about 8 nm can be obtained after annealing at 400 /spl deg/C, and that the Hc/sub /spl perp// value of the MgO/FePt/Ag films increases with increasing annealing temperature. After TEM-EDS analysis of the multilayer films, it is found that Ag mainly distributed at the grain boundary of FePt that resulted in the increase of the grain boundary energy, enhancing the coercivity and changing the preferred orientation of FePt film.