Magnetic and structural properties of (Co1-xFex)Pt thin films

(Co1-xFex)Pt films were grown on a glass substrate by a rf sputtering and t hen annealed at 650-700 degrees C in a high vacuum. All the as-sputtered (C o1-xFex)Pt films deposited below 400 degrees C had a disordered structure a nd showed very low coercivities. With increasing the deposition temperature and Fe contents, the (111) texture was weakened in as-deposited (Co1-xFex) Pt ternary filIns. Vibrating sample magnetometer and x-ray diffraction data show that Co atoms in the L1(o) CoPt phase were substituted with Fe atoms. In-plane coercivities of these films decreased almost linearly with increa sing Fe content which seemed to be due to the decrease of a crystalline ani sotropy energy. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.