Domain structure of bulk ferromagnetic crystals in applied fields near saturation

We investigate the ground state of a uniaxial ferromagnetic plate with perpendicular easy axis and subject to an applied magnetic field normal to the plate. Our interest is the asymptotic behavior of the energy in macroscopically large samples near the saturation field. We establish the scaling of the critical value of the applied field strength below saturation at which the ground state changes from the uniform to a branched domain magnetization pattern and the leading order scaling behavior of the minimal energy. Furthermore, we derive a reduced sharp-interface energy giving the precise asymptotic behavior of the minimal energy in macroscopically large plates under a physically reasonable assumption of small deviations of the magnetization from the easy axis away from domain walls. On the basis of the reduced energy, and by a formal asymptotic analysis near the transition, we derive the precise asymptotic values of the critical field strength at which non-trivial minimizers (either local or global) emerge. The non-trivial minimal energy scaling is achieved by magnetization patterns consisting of long slender needle-like domains of magnetization opposing the applied fieldComment: 38 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Nonlin. Sci

Efficiency-improvement study for GaAs solar cells. Final report, March 31, 1980-September 30, 1981

High-yield fabrication of good quality AlGaAs/GaAs concentration solar cells has been a limiting factor in widespread utilization of these high conversion efficiency (22 to 24%) photovoltaic cells. Reported is a series of investigations to correlate solar cell yield with substrate quality, growth techniques, layer composition, and metallization processes. In addition, several diagnostic techniques are described to aid in device characterization