From 2D CoCrPt:SiO2 films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy to 3D nanocones — A step towards bit patterned media

Due to the ever-increasing worldwide consumption of memory for digital information, new technologies for higher capacity and faster data storage systems have been the focus of research and development. A step towards achieving higher data storage densities for magnetic recording media is the concept of bit patterned media, where the magnetic recording layer is divided up into magnetically isolated bit units. This approach is one of the most promising technologies for increasing data storage densities and could be implemented by nanostructuring the wafer. Therefore, the fabrication of the appropriate nanostructures on a small scale and then be able to manufacture these structures on an industrial scale is one of the problems where science and industry are working on a solution. In addition, the answer to the open question about the influence that patterning on the nano length scale has on the magnetic properties is of great interest.
The main goal of this thesis is to answer the open question, which magnetic properties can be tailored by a modification of the surface texture on the nanometre length scale. For this purpose the following properties: anisotropy, remanence, coercivity, switching field distribution, saturation magnetisation, Gilbert damping, and inhomogeneous linebroadening were compared between planar two dimensional thin ferromagnetic films and three dimensional magnetic structures. In addition, the influences of the tailored morphology on the intergranular or the exchange coupling between the structures, which is called interdot exchange coupling, was investigated. For the ferromagnetic thin films, the focus of the investigations was on the granular CoCrPt:SiO2 and [Co/Pd] layer, which currently are the state-of-the-art material for magnetic data storage media. These materials are characterised by their high coercivity and high perpendicular anisotropy, which has a low spatial distribution in the preferred direction of magnetisation.
In this work the pre-structured GaSb(001) substrate with self-assembled periodic nanocone structures at the surface are used. The preparation by ion beam erosion of these structures is simple, fast, and highly reproducible and therefore this method is particularly beneficial for fundamental research. To compare the 2D thin films with the 3D magnetic structures, besides the pre-structured specimen, planar samples were also fabricated. The first sample series prepared was coated by Py. Due to the fact that the magnetic properties of this material are well-known, it was also possible to do some OOMMF simulations in addition to the VNA-FMR and MOKE measurements.
Afterwards two planar samples with CoCrPt and CoCrPt:SiO2 were prepared. The planar CoCrPt:SiO2 samples were Co+ ion implanted to study the influence of such irradiation on the intergranular and interdot exchange coupling, switching field distribution, and in particular on the spin dynamics. Moreover, both samples were measured by TRMOKE in order to obtain information about the spin dynamics.
Subsequently, the perpendicular storage media materials CoCrPt:SiO2 and [Co/Pd] were deposited on a prestructured GaSb(001) nanocone substrate surface. These sample series were measured by MOKE, SQUID, and vector-VSM. The measurements demonstrate the influence of the periodicity and height of the nanocones on the intergranular and interdot exchange coupling. They also show the reorientation of the magnetization with respect to the curvature of the substrate template and furthermore, the morphology-induced influences on the magnetic domains.
From the comparison between the results for the planar and the pre-structured samples, a decrease of the interdot exchange coupling was observed, which scales together with the periodicity of the nanocone pattern. In addition, it was shown that for all samples with thin magnetic films on nanocones,the magnetization aligns along the curvature of the underlying nanocone structure. For Py on nanocones, planar granular CoCrPt:SiO2, and planar granular CoCrPt, measurements by VNA-FMR and TRMOKE could be carried out, which yielded information about the spin dynamics. The results obtained for both of the planar sample are comparable to values from the literature for the Gilbert damping. The results for the Py samples showed that the commonly used 2D model resonance condition is, in case of a 3D magnetic structure, no longer valid due to the alignment of the magnetisation along the underlying substrate structure and therefore an new model has to be derived.