Switching mechanisms in cobalt-phosphorus thin films

Studies have shown that although the interactions between grains in magnetic thin-film recording media can enhance the squareness, these interactions are also responsible for media noise. The authors made measurements on Co-P thin films that give a simple and practical way of investigating the role of interactions in the magnetic processes that occur in these films. All magnetic measurements were made on a PAR 155 vibrating sample magnetometer with a resolution of 10^-5 EMU. The field measurements were made with a Bell-Gauss Hall probe calibrated with a proton magnetometer to give an accuracy of <0.1 Oe. The magnetic measurements made were the hysteresis loop. DC demagnetization, and isothermal remanent magnetization. It is noted that if a connection can be found between the results obtained and quantitative measures of noise in thin-film media, this work provides an important experimental link between models of the recording process and magnetic reversals in recording media