Micromagnetic study of the switching fields in polycrystalline magnetic thin-film media

In this paper, we use micromagnetic simulation to study the switching field reduction and the switching field distribution in polycrystalline thin-film media. We first show that, for the coupled magnetic particles, the switching field of the high-anisotropy particle is reduced as a result of the exchange coupling with the low-anisotropy particle. The switching field reduction increases almost linearly with the anisotropy difference between the coupled particles. An optimal exchange exists that gives a maximum switching field reduction. This switching field reduction is more severe for a small applied field angle; therefore, the angular sensitivity of the switching field is reduced compared to the Stoner-Wohlfarth relation. Detailed micromagnetic simulations also show that in polycrystalline thin-film media, because of the variation and the reduction of the magnetic properties at the grain boundaries, the media coercivity can be reduced significantly. The primary reason for this switching field reduction is the exchange interaction between the grain boundary and the grain center region.