The effect of structural defects on magnetic switching in thin ferromagnetic patterned films

We have utilized micromagnefic simulations to study the effect of structural defects on the magnetic switching behavior of thin elliptical permalloy films. The nonmagnetic void was found to tend to pin the adjacent magnetic moment, which changes the local equilibrium magnetization configurations and alters the switching behavior of magnetization, leading to a large variation in switching fields. In particular, for the case of voids close to the edge, the curling effect of voids is significant and induces the occurrence of the multiple-stage magnetization reversal, leading to significantly large switching fields.