Nanoscale perpendicular magnetic island arrays fabricated by extreme ultraviolet interference lithography

Magnetic island arrays with a period of 50 nm and uniform over 20x20 mu m(2) have been fabricated by depositing Co/Pd multilayer films on prepatterned SiO(x) pillars produced by extreme ultraviolet interference lithography. Scanning electron microscopy and magnetic force microscopy measurements made on the same islands give a direct, island-by-island comparison of the size and remanent switching field. The results demonstrate that the switching field distribution (SFD) is not primarily due to magnetostatic interactions, and a strong dependence of SFD on size is also not observed, indicating that a distribution of material properties is likely to be responsible for the SFD. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.