Periodic arrays of magnetic nanostructures by depositing Co/Pt multilayers on the barrier layer of ordered anodic alumina templates

We developed a method to fabricate ordered Co/Pt multilayer nanodot arrays using the barrier layer of anodic alumina templates as two-dimensional curved substrates. Large area patterning of self-assembled alumina nanobumps are formed with hexagonally close-packed order. The subsequent deposition of Co/Pt multilayers on this bumpy surface leads to an ordered array of single-domain nanocaps magnetized perpendicularly to the sample surface. Measurement of reversal field as a function of field angle and images of demagnetized state, composed with monobump-wide stripe domains, confirm the weakness of exchange coupling between bits. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4731640]