Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in FePt/AlN layered structure

FePt/AlN layered structures were deposited onto fused quartz substrate by magnetron sputtering method and found to show in-plane anisotropy. However, annealing of the films leads to a transition of magnetic anisotropy from in-plane to perpendicular direction, and the perpendicular anisotropy gets stronger as the annealing temperature increases. Structural analysis shows that the FePt and AlN layers are textured with (111) and (002) orientations, respectively, along the film normal, and no ordering transformation is found for FePt alloy. To study the origin of the developed anisotropy, stress condition was analyzed with an equal biaxial stress model using X-ray diffraction 2θ–ω scan method and interface quality was evaluated by X-ray reflectivity measurement and transmission electron microscopy observation. The results reveal that perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the annealed FePt/AlN layered structure can be attributed to the enhanced interface anisotropy, which is due to flattening of the interfaces through annealing.