Low-Temperature Fabrication of High-Coercivity L1₀ Ordered FePt Magnetic Thin Films by Sputtering

We report that fully ordered L1 0 FePt magnetic thin films with high coercivity can be fabricated by a simple sputtering method at a substrate temperature of 300°C. Although fcc→L1 0 ordering proceeds only above 600°C in ex situ annealing of disordered FePt films, the ordering occurs spontaneously by surface diffusion during the sputtering process of FePt alloy upon heating the substrate at 300°C. High coercivity larger than 7 kOe was achieved from the as-sputtered state.