High-density plasma-arc heating studies of FePt thin films

The effect of pulsed-thermal-processing with high-density plasma arc heating is discussed for 20 nm thick nanocrystalline FePt thin films. The dependence of the A1→L10 phase transformation on pulsed time and radiant energy of the pulse is quantified through x-ray diffraction and alternating gradient magnetometry. For 100 ms and 250 ms pulse widths, the phase transformation was observed. Higher radiant energy densities resulted in a larger measured coercivity associated with the L10 phase.