Time-resolved Observation of Field-dependent Magnetization Reversal Behavior in Co/Pd Multilayer Film

We report the experimental finding that there exists a transition of magnetization reversal process with varying the applied field in Co/Pd multilayer. We have measured the wall-motion speed V and the nucleation rate R during magnetization reversal via time-resolved direct domain observation, where the magnetization reversal process of Co/Pd multilayer is found to take a transition from thermal activation process to viscous process at the critical field of about 1.87 H$\_$C/ (coercivity). In the thermal activation regime, we find that the field dependences of two activation volumes for the wall-motion process and the nucleation process are different with each other, which reveals that the wall-motion and nucleation experience completely different interactions. In the viscous regime, we find that the wall-mobility is much smaller than a typical value for the sandwiched Co films, which implies that the Co/Pd interfaces in multilayer substantially contribute to the dynamic dissipation.