The microstructure and magnetic domain structure of a Co-CoO
obliquely evaporated tape for magnetic recording are studied by
analytical electron microscopy and electron holography, respectively.
While the existence of Co and CoO crystallites is confirmed by
energy-filtered electron diffraction, columnar structure of the Co
crystallites surrounded by the densely packed CoO crystallites is
visualized by an elemental mapping method with electron energy loss
spectroscopy, and the crystal orientation relation among the Co
crystallites is clarified by high-resolution electron microscopy. It is
found that the neighboring Co crystallites have close crystal
orientations. On the other hand, electron holography reveals the
magnetic flux distribution in a thin section of the tape. Although
there exists the background resulting from the effect of inner
potential with thickness variation, the distribution of lines of
magnetic flux is found to correspond well to the recorded pattern.