In the present study, we succeeded in accelerating the L1(0) ordering transition of FePt thin films by employing amorphous Ni-Al as underlayers. The coercivity H-c = 5 kOe and ordering parameter S = 0.67 of FePt thin films deposited on a Ni-Al underlayer with a thickness of similar to 5 nm after 380 degrees C annealing for 30 min are significantly higher than those H-c = 0.4 kOe and S = 0.35 of the films without the Ni-Al underlayer. The L10 ordering process of and the coercivity of FePt thin films can be significantly tuned by varying the thickness of the Ni-Al underlayer. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.