Enhanced coercivity in C/Fe/Pt thick-film magnets

Highlights: • Fe/Pt and C/Fe/Pt multilayer thick-films with different configurations were prepared by PLD method. • The thick-film magnets with the coercivity of 1200 kA/m were obtained. • C addition refined grain, and improved exchange coupling interaction. - Abstract: Fe/Pt and C/Fe/Pt multilayer thick-films with different configurations were prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique and their microstructures and magnetic properties of FePt thick-films have been investigated. Compared to [Fe(0.972 µm)/Pt(1.192 µm)] and [Fe(0.486 µm)/Pt(0.596 µm)]₂ multilayer thick-films, higher performance of magnetic properties with the coercivity about 875 kA/m was obtained in the [Fe(0.243 µm)/Pt(0.298 µm)]₄ film because of the enhancement in interdiffusion among the thinner Fe and Pt layer. Additional C layers refine grains of the films, leading to an enhancement of the coercivity up to 1200 kA/m and a stronger exchange-coupling between the hard and soft magnetic phase.