Localized heating of nickel nitride/aluminum nitride nanocomposite films for data storage
- Chemical and Analytical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6119 (United States)
- Health Sciences Research Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6119 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1200 (United States)
- Technical Division, K-25 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
Nickel--aluminum nitride films were prepared by reactive sputtering of a nickel aluminide plate in a nitrogen plasma. The initial product is a nanocomposite containing the nickel as the nitride, Ni{sub 3}N, in aluminum nitride. Heating in vacuum to 500 {degree}C causes selective decomposition of the thermally labile nickel nitride leaving the aluminum nitride unaffected. The nickel nanocomposite is of interest for potential applications as recording media, as are other finely divided dispersions of ferromagnetic metals in insulating matrices. The nickel--aluminum nitride nanocomposite shows a moderate coercive field of 35 Oe at 300 K and, in common with ultrafine particles of ferromagnetic materials, shows superparamagnetic behavior. The Ni{sub 3}N/AlN nanocomposite was subjected to localized heating with the focused beam of an argon-ion laser; this created features several microns in width that could be imaged with a magnetic force microscope, thus confirming its potential as a high density data storage medium. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital American} {ital Institute} {ital of} {ital Physics}.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 124281
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 67, Issue 20; Other Information: PBD: 13 Nov 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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