Remanence in high-density recording media

The uniaxial anisotropy of independent single domain ferromagnetic grains in high density CoCrPtTa longitudinal recording media was derived from remanence measurements. The distribution of the uniaxial anisotropy axis directions was estimated from a measurement of the Kerr rotation in a perpendicular field. The dispersion of anisotropy fields was estimated from the remanence measurements after application of pulse fields in the film plane. Application of an external field to 45 degrees from the film plane results in sharp magnetization reversal with a minimum writing field. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.