Effect of Pt doping on the preferred orientation enhancement in FeCo/SiO₂ nanocomposite films

We prepared FeCoPt/SiO₂ thin films by sol-gel spin-coating technique. As-prepared composite films were reduced in hydrogen to induce texture growth. Structural, magnetic property and surface morphology of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). These experimental data indicate that integrated intensity ratio I₍₂₀₀₎/I₍₁₁₀₎ of diffraction peaks (200) and (110) of FeCo firstly increases and then decreases, while the coercivity first decreases and then increases with increasing Pt doping content. The specimen with less Pt doping content has a large I₍₂₀₀₎/I₍₁₁₀₎ value and small coervicity value, which is closely related with strong (200) texture in FeCo thin film. These results indicate that fcc-Pt is also in favor of promoting (200) FeCo texture like Al or Cu elements, and this similar trends of Pt and Al originate from their similar atomic radius and crystal cell volume.