Magnetic properties and microstructure of FePtC films with TiOC/MoC combined intermediate layer

•The FePt film shows smaller rocking width with TiOC/MoC layers.•The FePt/TiOC/MoC film illustrates perpendicular magnetization.•The FePt/TiOC/MoC film shows higher out-of-plane coercivity.

The magnetic properties and microstructure of FePt–C films grown on MoC and TiOC/MoC combined intermediate layers were discussed. The thin TiOC layer with smaller surface energy and lattice constant than MoC was inserted to modify the magnetic properties and microstructure of FePt films. Using TiOC/MoC combined intermediate layer, the rocking width of FePt (001) diffraction peak was changed from 7.1° to 6.2°, indicating that TiOC could achieve better epitaxial growth due to smaller lattice mismatch. The FePt/TiOC(2 nm)/MoC/CrRu film illustrated perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with out-of plane coercivity of 11 kOe which is higher than FePt film deposited on MoC layer (8.1 kOe). For microstructure, the smaller and denser FePt grains were observed in FePtC(17, 29, 38 at.%)/TiOC(2 nm)/MoC/CrRu granular film.