Magnetic strip patterns induced by focused ion beam irradiation

Focused ion beam exposure was used to locally alter the magnetic properties of a continuous CoPd multilayer film with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The saturation magnetization, coercivity, and magnetic anisotropy of the films can be tuned by Ga irradiation depending on exposure dose. As a result, a periodic strip pattern consisting of 80 nm wide exposed strips which are magnetically soft, separated by 170 nm wide magnetically hard, unexposed areas was created. Due to strong magnetostatic coupling between the strips, a number of magnetic domain configurations could be stabilized and these have been observed by magnetic force microscopy and magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements. The magnetic domain configurations and their reversal behavior were investigated by micromagnetic simulations as a function of exposure dose and strip period. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.