Influence of microstructure on the chemical inhomogeneities in nanostructured longitudinal magnetic recording media

Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy and spectrum imaging at nanometer spatial resolution were used to correlate microstructure, specifically crystallographic texture and grain-boundary character, with the chemical inhomogeneities in sputtered CoCrPtB thin-film media. These data show that the average Cr grain boundary segregation is reduced in the sputtered CoCrPtB material with a strong (1 1 0) Co texture compared to a microstructure with a weak (1 0 0) Co texture.