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 H
k
normal 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 H
k
> M
s
is not stringent for perpendicular recording.