Size and shape control of monodisperse FePt nanoparticles

Morphological control of FePt nanoparticles has been systematically studied. By varying synthetic parameters including precursors, solvents, amount of surfactants, and heating rate of the solution, the particle size from 2 to 9 nm can be tuned with 1 nm accuracy. While most particles are spherical in shape, cubic particles can be obtained when particles are greater than 7 nm. Rod-shape nanoparticles have also been obtained. The as-synthesized nanoparticles are found to be superparamagnetic at room temperature and their blocking temperature is size dependent that increases with particle size. After annealing in a reducing atmosphere, the nanoparticles form hard magnetic films with ordered fct structure and high coercivity up to 2.7 T.