Nucleation controlled magnetization reversal mechanism in oriented L10 FeCoPt ternary alloys

Abstract The angular dependence of scaled coercivity is investigated within the framework of various theoretical models to gather an insight into the magnetization reversal mechanism in hard magnetic materials. FeCoPt ternary alloy thin films with low concentration of Co were successfully fabricated on an Si substrate with different working pressures in order to attain an optimum energy product. The structural and hysteresis curve analysis show an improvement in atomic ordering and orientation of easy axis with annealing temperature. The experimental data for angular dependence of coercivity along with the theoretical predications based on the nucleation model indicates that the dominant reversal mechanism is nucleation along with a slight contribution from pinning. The magnetic force microscopy (MFM) imaging also supports the above model. The evolution of morphology and microstructure characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was directly linked to an increase in surface roughness.