Tailoring of magnetic properties of patterned cobalt antidots by simple manipulation of lattice symmetry

Abstract

Cobalt (Co) antidot arrays with different lattice geometries, square and rhomboid structures were fabricated and their magnetic reversal properties were studied by scanning-electron microscopy (SEM), magneto-optic Kerr effect, and magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Different lattice symmetries induced the corresponding anisotropies with changing easy and hard axes. The nearest-neighbor rule is not applicable in case of the rhomboid antidot lattice, while the inclusion theory is. These results are different from those of the previous investigations. The differences are due to different sizes and spacing's between the antidots. The MFM images in the remanent state showed well-defined domain structures, periodic in nature according to the lattice geometry.