Magnetic properties of lateral 'antidot' arrays

Micromagnetic and transport modeling are performed with a ferromagnetic film with an etched array of square holes ('antidots'). In the submicron-size range, the presence of antidots significantly increases the coercivity of the film. The antidot film shows a complex magnetoresistance (MR) behavior when the field direction is rotated due to the interplay between the induced easy axes along the antidot edges and the field and current directions. The MR response can be further modified by changing the composition of the film and antidot and by introducing an insulating barrier around the antidots. Index Terms--Anisotropic magnetoresistance, antidot array, geometry-induced anisotropy, micromagnetic simulation.