Relevance of transverse remanence for textured recording media

The derivative of the transverse remanent (TR) magnetization curve for dilu ted, randomly oriented particle systems is known to give the anisotropy fie ld distribution. The goal of this Letter is to investigate the TR relevance for textured (oriented) recording media. A method for measuring the easy a xis distribution, that uses the TR saturation values for different directio ns of the applied field, is presented, Particle interactions are shown to h ave a strong influence on the TR. Experimental results on tape recording me dia show that the TR curves measured by rotating the applied held towards t he perpendicular to the tape axis (the texture symmetry axis) saturates fas ter than those measured by rotating the field towards the tape axis. Monte Carlo simulations indicate as possible explanation for this effect the nega tive (demagnetizing) character of particle interaction. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.