Anisotropy and texture studies in magnetic media

Abstract

The rapid development of magnetic materials for recording media applications increased the demands for new and more precise experimental investigation techniques. In respect with these demands, this project is focused on experimental analyses of advanced particulate media and magnetic thin film samples.
A new extended rotational remanence technique for anisotropy field measurements was developed. The technique is suitable for samples that contain aligned or partially aligned particles and provides both: in-plane anisotropy field distributions and the in-plane anisotropy field. This technique was also extended to out-of-plane anisotropy field measurements.
Rotational hysteresis was introduced as an alternative method for anisotropy field measurements. This applies well in the case of samples without texture or samples having very small magnetic moment (i.e. thin films). The two techniques for anisotropy field measurement compare well and the experimental results were interpreted in terms of inter-particles interactions.
Two measurement methods for determination of the demagnetizing field acting perpendicular to a sample plane were also developed. The first method is based on the in-plane and out-of-plane anisotropy field determination using an extended rotational remanence technique. The second method can provide the demagnetizing field starting from in-plane and out-of-plane transverse hysteresis loops. Comparison between the results from the two methods showed good agreement. Furthermore, the demagnetizing field values were used to calculate the magnetic coating thickness, so the two methods provide a non-destructive method for magnetic thickness measurements in film samples. The in-plane easy axis distribution (EAD) was experimentally determined using vector VSM techniques. Correlations between in-plane tape texture and magnetic thickness were obtained for a series of advanced MP tapes. A theoretical approach was used in order to relate the orientation ratio to EAD. The out-of-plane EAD was derived from numerical calculations. The out-of-plane distribution also showed a variation with the magnetic thickness. In addition, the microstructure and particle morphology of the advanced MP tapes, as well as the out-of-plane component of magnetization, have been investigated using Mossbauer Spectroscopy. Finally, 3D - EAD maps were produced. All VSM experiments were fully computer controlled and the routines were designed in the LabView environment as part of this project.