Abstract
The long-range order and the extent of crystallization of nanostructured thin films may not be reliably obtained by conventional X-ray diffraction when the crystalline domain size is smaller than the X-ray coherent length. Here we report an investigation of the effects of annealing on Co-C thin films by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The local atomic order of Co increased with increasing annealing temperature, resulting in the increase of coercivity and saturation magnetization. The Co-C films annealed at 400 °C dominated by hexagonal close-packed phase with optimized magnetic properties are a promising media candidate for high density magnetic recording.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | e383-e386 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials |
Volume | 303 |
Issue number | 2 SPEC. ISS. |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2006 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:G.M.C. thanks the support of this work by the NUS Academic Research Grant and the Office of Naval Research, USA. C.J.S. is supported by a NUS research fellowship. Y. Zhao was supported by the NUS postgraduate research scholarship. The authors thank NSRRC for the beamtime, and the staff of the wiggler 17C beamline for the assistance of the data collection.
Keywords
- Extended X-ray absorption fine structure
- Magnetic recording
- Spin moment
- Thin films
- X-ray absorption fine structure