Depth dependence of Néel wall pinning on amorphous CoxSi1−x films with diluted arrays of elliptical antidots

Abstract Diluted arrays of elliptical antidots have been fabricated by optical lithography, electron beam lithography and plasma etching on amorphous Co 74 Si 26 magnetic films with a well-defined uniaxial anisotropy. The magnetic behavior of two identical antidot arrays but with different hole depth in comparison with film thickness has been studied by transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect. Significant differences appear in the coercivity depending on whether the magnetic film is completely perforated or not, indicating a much more effective domain wall pinning process when the depth of the holes is smaller than the magnetic film thickness.