Relevance of transverse remanence for textured recording media

The derivative of the transverse remanent (TR) magnetization curve for diluted, randomly oriented particle systems is known to give the anisotropy field distribution. The goal of this Letter is to investigate the TR relevance for textured (oriented) recording media. A method for measuring the easy axis distribution, that uses the TR saturation values for different directions of the applied field, is presented, Particle interactions are shown to have a strong influence on the TR. Experimental results on tape recording media show that the TR curves measured by rotating the applied held towards the perpendicular to the tape axis (the texture symmetry axis) saturates faster than those measured by rotating the field towards the tape axis. Monte Carlo simulations indicate as possible explanation for this effect the negative (demagnetizing) character of particle interaction. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.