Angular dependence and temperature effect on switching field distribution of Co/Pd based bit patterned media

Abstract

The motivation for this work is rooted in the reversal process that occurs in perpendicularly magnetic Co/Pd multilayered based bit-patterned media. In our work, temperature effect and angle dependence of critical fields (H cr) and switching field distribution (SFD) are studied by both experiment and simulation. From our observation, when temperature increases from 77 to 300 K, the critical field of patterned area decreases from 13 to 11 kOe. Absolute SFD decreases from 2.6 to 2.2 kOe as thermal energy assists islands reversal. The relative SFD (SFD/H cr) keeps constant with temperature. Although critical fields and absolute SFD vary with angles, relative SFD is independent of the field angle. The interactions between islands broaden relative SFD from 12 to 20 after considering dipolar interactions. The relative SFD by simulation agrees well with our experimental observation. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.