Orientation-controlled nonepitaxial L10 FePt thin films

We report an orientation-controlled FePt thin films grown nonexpitaxially on oxidized Si substrates without using any underlayers. After 700 °C annealing, the FePt single layer with thickness less than 10 nm shows good (001) texture and perpendicular anisotropy. The scanning electron microscope images indicate that these films are composed of isolated islands. For the films thicker than 20 nm, the films become continuous and (111) orientation appears. The transition of film texture relates to the change of morphology of the films. Finally, a theoretical mode based on minimizing surface energy is proposed to explain the texture variation in the films