Time Resolved Scanning Kerr Microscopy Of Hard Disk Writer Structures With A Multilayered Yoke

Partially built hard disk writer structures with a multilayered yoke formed from 4 repeats of a NiFe(similar to 1 nm)/CoFe(50 nm) bilayer were studied by time and vector resolved scanning Kerr microscopy. Dynamic images of the in-plane magnetization suggest an underlying closure domain equilibrium state. This state is found to be modified by application of a bias magnetic field and also during pulse cycling, leading to different magnetization rotation and relaxation behavior within the tip region. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4802977]