Roughness-induced instability in stripe domain patterns

Island dominated growth in cobalt/ruthenium structures is used to create fi lms with varying degrees of structural roughness. The resulting magnetic fi lms constructed in this way are continuous thin films with a distribution o f islands on the surface. The size and spacing of the islands are remarkabl y uniform; and the degree of roughness is determined by varying the thickne ss of the continuous film relative to the density and size of the islands. The evolution of coercive fields, saturation fields and remanence are studi ed for differing degrees of roughness, and particular attention is given to consequent effects on domain pattern formation and stability. The stabilit y of the stripe domain pattern is sensitive to the island structure, and st rong correlations are found between domain pattern stability and film struc ture. Two types of behavior are found and the transition region between the se behaviors is studied experimentally and theoretically in terms pf stabil ity to effects of roughness. A scheme to distinguish between randomly and r egularly distributed defects based on measuring stripe domain quality is su ggested.