Incoherent rotation in barium ferrite thin film recording media

The angular dependence of the remanent magnetic properties of uniaxially in-plane oriented barium ferrite films were found to deviate significantly from the Stoner-Wohlfarth (SW) coherent rotation model. The in-plane torque and the rotational hysteresis were studied in both aligned and randomly oriented films. They were found to be different from that calculated from the SW coherent rotation model, and suggested incoherent rotation of magnetization during the switching process. Incoherent rotation was found to be dependent on grain size and intergranular interactions.