Magnetization reversal processes in submicron Co dots and antidots arrays

Arrays of submicron polycrystalline and epitaxially grown (1 0 0) hcp Co dots and antidots were prepared in order to study the magnetization reversal processes influenced by well defined anisotropy, dipolar and exchange fields. The magnetization reversal processes for both polycrystalline and epitaxial Co dot arrays are found to be initiated by domain wall nucleation. The domain wall propagation is regulated by the evolution of the effective internal field. The antidots exhibit perculiar stripe domains in the remanent state. the direction of the stripes is well determined by the applied magnetic field direction. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.