Magnetic and structural properties of magnetron sputtered CoCr thin films

The magnetic and structural properties of CoCr thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering at a high deposition rate of up to 10 nm/s have been characterized by various magnetometer measurements, TEM and Lorentz microscopy. In particular, the anisotropy field Hknormal to the film plane has been determined by three different methods (VSM, susceptibility and torque). From the measurements, a model has been derived to explain the domain structure and the in-plane magnetization reversal. It is concluded that the condition Hk> Msis not stringent for perpendicular recording.