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Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Volume 329, March 2013, Pages 170-177.
N.L. Yakovlev, Y.Y. Tay, Z.J. Tay, H.V. Chen.
Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 3 Research Link, 117602 Singapore, Singapore and
Raffles Institution, 1 Raffles Institution Lane, 575954 Singapore, Singapore and
National Junior College, 37 Hillcrest Road, 288913 Singapore, Singapore.
Abstract
Cobalt films with in-plane anisotropy were studied using two-axis magnetometry. Uniaxial anisotropy was induced in Co films by linear features on the substrate. These linear features were formed by various means: self-assembly of CaF2 grooves, nano-imprinting, and high energy atom flux or steps on vicinal surface of Si. From the analysis of components of magnetisation parallel and perpendicular to the applied field, it was found that the extrinsic switching field distribution (SFD) of all samples was an exponential function of the field. Modelling of hysteresis loops with this SFD gives good fit with experiments for linear features studied. It follows that the exponential SFD is a common property of magnetic thin films having in-plane uniaxial anisotropy and magnetisation reversal as coherent rotation.
