Geometric coercivity scaling in magnetic thin film antidot arrays

The magnetic properties of epitaxial Fe/GaAs (001) films structured into periodic two dimensional circular antidot arrays of varying size and separations were discussed. The circular antidot ensured the formation of well-defined domain configurations which determined the magnetization reversal of the system. The epitaxial Fe (001) films, grown using molecular beam epitaxy, were analyzed using magnetic force microscopy, micromagnetic simulations and SQUID magnetometry. A linear dependence between the coercivity of the film and geometrical array parameters was obtained.