Dependence of microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt films on Cr90Ru10 underlayers

The effect of the thickness of Cr90Ru10 underlayers on the microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt films has been studied. Experimental results showed that the FePt films grown on the Cr90Ru10 underlayers exhibited a (0 0 1) preferred orientation with out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy. The degree of the FePt(0 0 1) preferred orientation was closely related to that of the Cr(0 0 2) preferred orientation. The degree of ordering of the FePt films increased with the thickness of the Cr90Ru10 underlayers. The angular dependence of the coercivity curves suggested that an incoherent curling rotational mode be a dominant magnetic reversal mechanism in the FePt films at various Cr90Ru10 underlayer thicknesses.