Spray pyrolytic deposition of barium hexaferrite thin films for magnetic recording applications

Barium hexaferrite films with particles in the 50-80 nm size range have bee n prepared by a simple spray pyrolytic method starting from a citrate compl ex precursor. High nucleation rates during thermal decomposition of citrate precursor along with low growth rates ensure the formation of nanoparticle s. The particles have a predominantly perpendicular easy-axis orientation a nd a perpendicular coercivity of 5000 Oe. The angular-dependent coercivity measurements shun a nearly monotonic angular dependence indicating weaker g rain interaction and low media noise in these films, an extremely useful pr operty for application in high-density recording media. (C) 2000 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.