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Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 147202 (2007) [4 pages]

Magnetic Instability Regions in Patterned Structures: Influence of Element Shape on Magnetization Reversal Dynamics

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X. F. Han1,*, M. Grimsditch2, J. Meersschaut2,3, A. Hoffmann2, Y. Ji2,4, J. Sort5, J. Nogués5, R. Divan4, J. E. Pearson2, and D. J. Keavney1,†
1Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
2Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
3Instituut voor Kern- en Stralingsfysica and INPAC, K.U. Leuven, Celstijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
4Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
5Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) and Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

Received 15 August 2006; published 3 April 2007

We report a time-resolved imaging study of the influence of shape on magnetic instabilities in patterned magnetic structures. We find that in rectangular structures magnetization reversal initiates at the ends and interior simultaneously, while in structures with tapered ends the reversal begins in the middle of the structures and spreads out to the ends. The degree of tapering is important for both the switching field and the time required for full reversal. A model based on the concept of local instability regions yields good agreement with the observed location of the reversal onsets.

© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.147202
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.147202
PACS:
75.60.Jk, 75.40.Gb, 75.70.Kw, 75.75.+a

*Present Address: Seagate, Bloomington, MN, USA.

†Corresponding author.

Email address: keavney@aps.anl.gov

 
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