Magnetic domain pinning in patterned magneto-optical material

Pinning magnetic domains with defined shapes have been made for magneto-optical thin film material. The pinning array of holes on the substrate was fabricated using electron beam lithography. The domain pinning behaviors were studied by applying an external magnetic field perpendicular to the film plane and imaged by atomic force microscopy in their remanent state. Magnetic domains were found to be pinned inside the hole arrays and reproduced the shapes of the holes. The coercivity in the patterned region is larger than in the nonpatterned region. Moreover, the coercivity inside the hole sites is larger than the land sites. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)38708-9].