Studies on the Effect of Compositional Separation on the Magnetic Domain Configurations in Sputtered Co-Cr Thin Films Using Magnetic Force Microscopy.

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Using magnetic force microscopy (MFM), we investigated the effect of compositional separation (CS) on the magnetic domain configurations in Co78Cr22 films. Scanning electron microscopy of chemicallyetched microstructures and nuclear magnetic resonance studies showed that a film deposited at room temperature (RT) was compositionally homogeneous, while a film deposited at 200°C was in a compositionally separated state. The MFM image of the RT film showed a typical maze-type domain structure. In contrast, the image of the 200°C film suggested the existence of a finer, discontinuous domain structure. Point magnetic recording, using a Permalloy tip, produced magnetic dots down to between 0.15 and 0.30 μm in diameter in the 200°C film. No such magnetic dots, however, were observable for the RT film. These MFM results are consistent with CS promoting a change from a continuous to a particulate type magnetic microstructure suitable for high density magnetic recording.