Magnetization Reversal Behavior in Cobalt Rare-Earth Thin Films

Authors

S.S. Malhotra, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Z.S. Shan, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
D.C. Stafford, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Sy_Hwang Liou, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

September 1996

Comments

Published by IEEE; IEEE Trans. Mag. 32, 4019 (1996). ©1996 IEEE. Permission to use. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/

Abstract

Cobalt RareEarth (CoR, R = Pr,Sm) thin films on a Cr underlayer have shown promise as future ultra high density magnetic recording media. The activation volume or the magnetic switching volume (v*) is an important consideration for thermal stability and media noise in high density recording media and V* can also provide information about the magnetization reversal behavior in these films. The magnetic switching volume was estimated for the CoPr films with thicknesses from 28 to 639 nm with a Cr underlayer of 80 nm annealed at 500 ⁰C. The measured switching volume ranges from 1.3 to 1.7x10^-18 cm³. We have also studied the Cr underlayer thickness and temperature effects on the swithcing volume for the CoSm films.