Curie temperature of FePt:B₂O₃ nanocomposite films

We report results on experimental and theoretical studies of structural and magnetic properties of FePt:B₂O₃ nanocomposite films. It was found for films prepared by magnetron sputtering with subsequent annealing that lattice parameters a and c of fct FePt change with significantly different rates with increase of the B₂O₃ fraction. As a consequence, fundamental magnetic properties change markedly, with the Curie temperature decreasing by 36% for 25% FePt volume fraction compared with the bulk value. Using an ab initio parametrization of magnetic interactions, we propose statistical model of thermal fluctuations in fct FePt, which explains these observations. Our modeling results demonstrate that the observed phenomena originate in the variation of the exchange interaction parameters with the changes in the c/a ratio. We find that the main factor of this variation is the increase of the difference between the in-plane and interplane exchange interactions as c/a decreases from its bulk value due to stress exerted by the B₂O₃ matrix.