Competing interaction effects in recording media

In this work we present a study of the effects of easy axis alignment on coupling effects in recording media. We have studied both particulate and thin film media representing both flexible and rigid disc materials. The texture in the systems has been determined via measurements of the angular dependence of remanence and the coupling determined using the well-established ΔM technique. In particulate media only dipolar coupling is present whereas in thin films intergranular exchange effects also occur. In our thin film samples the exchange coupling is weak so that dipolar effects dominate. We find that the dipolar effects in both systems increase with texture, increasing their dominance over exchange effects.