High-coercivity FePt nanoparticle assemblies embedded in silica thin films

Nanotechnology. 2009 Jan 14;20(2):025609. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/20/2/025609. Epub 2008 Dec 11.

Abstract

The ability to process assemblies using thin film techniques in a scalable fashion would be a key to transmuting the assemblies into manufacturable devices. Here, we embed FePt nanoparticle assemblies into a silica thin film by sol-gel processing. Annealing the thin film composite at 650 degrees C transforms the chemically disordered fcc FePt phase into the fct phase, yielding magnetic coercivity values H(c)>630 mT. The positional order of the particles is retained due to the protection offered by the silica host. Such films with assemblies of high-coercivity magnetic particles are attractive for realizing new types of ultra-high-density data storage devices and magneto-composites.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.