We present a spatially resolved magneto-optical Kerr imaging study on the magnetization reversal, as a function of applied field, of patterned arrays of perpendicular anisotropy single domain islands. Patterns are made of large collections of CoPt multilayer islands with frustrated (Kagome, triangular) and unfrustrated (square, hexagonal) geometries. Field induced switching is imaged with a Kerr imaging apparatus equipped with an objective lens that allows for diffraction limited spatial resolution as low as 250nm and imaging acquisition as fast as 12 frames/second. The magnetization reversal process is probed by varying lattice spacing, geometry, and artificial defects in the patterned arrays.
*Supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division under grant number DE---SC0005313
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Authors
Robert Fraleigh
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Physics and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Paul Lammert
Department of Physics and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Pennsylvania State University
Phys. Dept., Penn State University
Vincent Crespi
Department of Physics and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University
Phys. Dept., Penn State University
Nitin Samarth
Physics Department, Pennsylvania State University
Dept. of Physics, Penn State University
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Physics and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Ian Gilbert
Department of Physics and the Federick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
P. Schiffer
Department of Physics and the Federick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
