Angular variation of the coercivity in magnetic recording thin films

Abstract

Coercivity of vacuum‐deposited magnetic thin films of CoCr and CoNi is dependent on deposition geometries and other deposition conditions. The angular variation of coercivity shows three types of behavior: bell‐, M‐, and shifted M‐type curves. The displacement‐controlled nucleation and growth of reverse domains dominates the coercivity mechanism. The shifted M‐type angular‐dependent coercivity in the oblique‐deposited thin film is related to the out‐of‐plane magnetic anisotropy, and the shift angle is correlated to the angle of the easy axis, which is out of the film plane but not coincident with the axis of the canted columnar structure.