Monolayer of closely packed FePt islands with a tetragonal L1/sub 0/ structure produced by thermally created mass transport

A monolayer of closely packed FePt islands has been produced by thermally created mass transport of ultra-thin FePt film, whereby the formation of a magnetic layer composed of a 2D arrangement of magnetic grains for a decrease of the magnetic coupling between the grains can be realized. Ordered FePt binary alloy films with a tetragonal L1/sub 0/ structure have received significant attention because of the high magnetic anisotropy and, thus, the potential application in high density recording media. The formation of granular films composed of a 3D arrangement of L1/sub 0/-FePt ordered grains with [001] orientation in MgO film has been achieved by stacking the FePt-island/MgO bilayers for high-density perpendicular-magnetic-recording media.