The domain wall distortion of magnetically written bits in GdTbFe thin films

The distortion of the bits formed by a magnetic head was studied on GdTbFe films. From read/write tests, it is found that reproduction noise is strongly affected by the film sputtering gas pressure (0.2-0.6 Pa); high Ar pressure causes less reproduction noise. Jitter analysis with a magnetooptical read head indicates that domain-wall distortion decreases as the deposition pressure increases. This distortion amplitude is found to roughly coincide with the distance between iron microcrystallites (about 10 AA to 60 AA in diameter), which are assumed to provide nucleation sites for magnetization reversal.>