Robustness of the remanent magnetic domain pattern formation and associated stripe-bubble transitions in Co/Pt multilayers against field sequencing

Thin ferromagnetic [Co/Pt] multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy exhibit a variety of nanoscopic magnetic domain patternsat remanence, from long interlaced stripes to lattices of bubbles, depending on the multilayer structure but also on the magnetic historyof the sample. For optimized structural parameters, stripe-bubble transitions accompanied by drastic increases in domain density havebeen observed when the magnitude of the previously applied perpendicular fieldHmis finely tuned throughout the hysteresis loop. Here, we investigate the robustness of these morphological transitions against field sequencing and field cycling. We conducted this study on[Co(x)/Pt(7Å)]N=50where x varies from 4 to 60 Å. We mapped the morphological transition withHmvarying from 0 to 9 T, following bothan ascending sequence (0→9 T) and a descending sequence (9 T→0). We found that the optimal fieldHm=H∗at which the domain densityis maximized and its associated maximal density n∗ are not significantly affected by the field sequencing direction. We have also investigatedpossible pumping effects when cycling the applied field at the value H∗. We found that n∗ remains relatively stable through field cycling, andmuch more stable in the bubble state, compared to longer stripe states. The observed robustness of these morphological transitions againstfield sequencing and field cycling is of crucial importance for potential magnetic recording applications.