We have studied the magnetic and superconducting properties of a nanostructured magnetic/superconducting hybrid system, consisting of a Co layer with a square array of rectangular antidots, covered with a thin 500 Angstrom superconducting Pb layer. The magnetic force microscopy data have revealed that the domain walls are located between neighbouring antidots and are pinned at the antidot corners. The superconducting pinning properties of the hybrid system are studied by means of SQUID magnetisation measurements for different magnetic states of the Co antidot lattice. The results show that the stray field, coming from the domain walls in the antidot array, contributes more to the pinning potential than the periodic modulation of the underlying Co layer. The flux lines seem to be pinned at the domain walls between the antidots. In this way, possible matching effects are lost, The network of domain walls thus creates a new type of an artificial pinning array. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. [References: 6]
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