FePtC magnetic recording media with (200) textured MoC intermediate layer

The FePt films with thickness of 4–10 nm were deposited on MoC/CrRu/glass at 425 °C by using magnetron sputtering. The Mo₄₀C₆₀ target was used to form the MoC and C two phases after deposition. The MoC intermediate layer was epitaxially grown on the (200) textured CrRu seed layer at 425 °C and the MoC (200) diffraction peak was not clearly indexed below 10 nm but observed at 25 nm. Finally, the FePt film was prepared on (200) textured MoC at 425 °C and shown the strong (001) texture. Perpendicular anisotropy of 1.7 × 10⁷ erg/cm³ and out-of-plane coercivity of 7.5 kOe has been demonstrated in 10 nm thick FePt film. From microstructure, the FePt grains were distributed in- or between-islands like structure and further separated by excess carbon from MoC intermediate layer. Thinner FePt film was more separated by excess carbon and shown higher coercivity.