Microstructure analysis of annealing effect on CoCrPt thin film media by XRD

Post annealing treatment for CoCrPt magnetic thin films were tried in diffe rent thermal conditions, by changing the time of annealing procedure. Coerc ivity (H-c) improvement was achieved in annealed sample compared with those as deposited, in which as high as 5.2kOe has been attained. To clarify the mechanism of annealing treatment on the magnetic properties, X-ray diffrac tion (XRD) spectrums of those samples and their magnetic properties were ca refully studied. Co and Cr lattice parameters were separately calculated fr om different crystal lattice plane. It was found that a axis lattice spacin g of Co hexagonal structure increases monotonically with increased annealin g time. Variation of Co hcp peaks significance may due to Cr or Pt redistri bution in the crystal grains and its boundaries. Combined with the grain si ze analysis of Go-rich area by X-ray diffraction peak broaden width, which was not very consistent with the result obtained from other's TEM and AFM s tudies, Cr diffusion was suggested to be the governing factor at short anne aling time region. Go-rich grain growth should also be applied to explain t he variation of magnetic properties in longer post annealing.