Long range ordering of self-assembled monolayers of FePt nanoparticles on modified substrates

Ordered self-assembled monolayers of FePt nanoparticles have been studied for the first time on fluorinated carbon thin film substrates. High resolution scanning electron microscopy of the resulting films showed homogenous hexagonally closed packed monolayers of FePt ordered over length scales of several millimeters. The annealing of self-assembled monolayers of FePt nanoparticles at 600 °C for 30 min showed significantly less sintering than on other types of substrates and the hexagonal ordering of the self-assembled monolayers was preserved during the annealing step. This is a significant step towards development of a viable patterned media for high density data storage.