On spontaneous nucleation in field-accessed bubble devices

The dependence ot the in-plane drive field at which bubble domains spontaneously nucleate in field-accessed bubble devices has been investigated as a function ofH_{k} - 4piM_{s}and of spacer thickness between the bubble film and permalloy propagation elements. The experiments were carried out on amorphous GdCoMo bubble films with T-bar and Y-bar structures. For a given structure and spacer thickness the nucleation field increases linearly withH_{k} - 4piM. Larger spacer thicknesses also lead to increased nucleation fields. A model based on the Stoner-Wohlfarth astroid is compared to these data and found to be useful in explaining the qualitative trends, but to be in poor quantitative agreement. It is concluded that since the drive field required in a device is proportional to4piM_{s}, Q - 1 = (H_{k} - 4piM_{s})/4piM_{s}must be greater than some minimum value for a given device structure and spacer thickness to permit reliable device operation.     

Temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of amorphous Co-Gd-Mo thin films

RF sputter deposited amorphous Co-Gd-Mo thin films have previously been shown to be potential materials for bubble device applications. However, the operation of a bubble device over a realistic temperature range requires materials with magnetic properties which are relatively temperature insensitive. An assessment of the temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of amorphous Co-Gd-Mo films is reported. The results of a mean field analysis of the magnetization data of Co-Gd-Mo thin films over wide composition and temperature ranges allowed optimization of the film composition for obtaining most suitable temperature dependences of magnetic properties. It has been found that even with the optimum compositions, the degree of temperature insensitivity improves with decreasing bubble diameters and is satisfactory only for sub-half-micron bubble materials. These results and analysis suggest that similar qualitative behavior may also be expected for other transition metal-rare earth alloys.