Study of microstructure and magnetization reversal mechanism in granular CoCrPt:SiO2 films of variable thickness

The relation between such non-uniform microstructure and the magnetization reversal mechanism at room temperature was investigated by performing hysteresis loops at variable angle as well as time dependent measurements by using a vector vibrating sample magnetometer. Numerical micromagnetic simulations of the hysteresis loops have been carried out to support the description of the experimental observations. The results showed a coexistence of coherent and incoherent reversal processes, the former being more and more pronounced with increasing the magnetic layer thickness, consistently with the microstructural investigations.