Lorentz microscopy observation of magnetic grains in Co-Sm∥Cr films

Author

Liu, Y. ; Shan, Z.S. ; Sellmyer, D.J.

Author_Institution

Center for Mater. Res. & Anal., Nebraska Univ., Lincoln, NE, USA

Volume

32

Issue

5

fYear

1996

fDate

9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3614

Lastpage

3616

Abstract

This paper presents our recent Lorentz microscopy study of magnetic domain structure and its relation to the nanostructure of Co-Sm films. The magnetic domains were imaged by Foucault Lorentz mode and the corresponding nanostructure was revealed by bright field and high resolution images. The nanostructure is composed of clusters of 20 nm grown on Cr grains. Each cluster is formed by the amorphous matrix and about 5 nm crystallites distributed in the matrix. It is found that each cluster forms a magnetic grain. Such magnetic grains show uniform contrast near the magnetic domain wall, and correspond to the switching volume in magnetic reversal. The magnetic grain (about 20 nm) is much larger than the size of the crystallites (5 nm) distributed in the amorphous matrix. It is the magnetic grain size that affects the noise response when the film is used as a high density recording medium

Keywords

cobalt alloys; electron microscopy; ferromagnetic materials; magnetic domains; magnetic thin films; magnetisation reversal; nanostructured materials; samarium alloys; Co-Sm/Cr film; CoSm-Cr; Foucault mode; Lorentz microscopy; amorphous matrix; bright field imaging; clusters; crystallites; high density recording medium; high resolution imaging; magnetic domains; magnetic grains; magnetic reversal; nanostructure; noise; switching volume; Amorphous magnetic materials; Amorphous materials; Chromium; Crystallization; Grain size; Image resolution; Magnetic domain walls; Magnetic domains; Magnetic films; Magnetic force microscopy;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.538707

Filename

538707