The fabrication of magnetic nanodots using polysulfone templated lithography has been recently explored as a potential technique for bit patterned media fabrication. This work describes the efforts made to identify the ideal template engineering technique so as to develop a standard media fabrication technique. Nanoporous polysulfone membranes were fabricated using a phase inversion process. Nickel nanodots were then evaporated onto silicon substrates using the polysulfone membrane as a mask. The work maps the changes in the structural and magnetic properties of the nanodots fabricated using one of the three different template engineering techniques identified. The samples were studied using atomic force microscopy and a vibrating sample magnetometer. The results indicated that the fabrication of the mask on the substrate itself gave the best feature size, consistent shape and structure and the least deviation in magnetization due to thermal agitation. The dynamics of the growth process has also been postulated based on the results.
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