High resolution measurement and modelling of magnetic domain structures in epitaxial FePd (001) L1(0) films with perpendicular magnetisation

Magnetic domain structures in two 50 nm thick chemically- ordered FePd (001) epitaxial films with different perpendicular anisotropies have been studied using Lorentz microscopy. Domain and domain wall structures vary significantly according to the magnitude of the anisotropy. For lower anisotropy films, a stripe domain structure with a period of approximate to 100 nm is formed in which there is a near-continuous variation in orientation of the magnetisation vector. By contrast, in the film with higher anisotropy, a maze-like domain structure is supported. The magnetisation within domains is perpendicular to the film plane and adjacent domains are separated by narrow walls, less than 20 nm wide. Micromagnetic modelling is generally in good quantitative agreement with experimental observations and provides additional information on the domain wall structure

Role of vortices in magnetization reversal of rectangular NiFe elements

Vortices are seen in the magnetization distributions of rectangular magnetic elements in both experiments and micromagnetic simulations, To investigate the role of vortices during magnetization reversal Ni80Fe20 elements 100 nm and 200 nm wide and 5-60 nm thick were fabricated by electron beam lithography and studied by high-resolution magnetic imaging in the transmission electron microscope. During reversal, vortices appeared near the ends of the elements, grew under an increasing reverse field, and disappeared after rapid switching. Maximum switching fields of 400 Oe for 100 nm wide elements and 200 Oe for 200 nm wide elements occurred for film thicknesses of 25-30 nm and above. Simulations showed that reversal in these elements always occurred by means of vortices, however the simulated switching fields were much higher than the experimentally observed values. Lower switching fields were obtained in the simulations when vortex creation was assisted by 'defects' at the edges of the elements. However, to successfully simulate the magnitude and thickness dependence of the switching fields, it was necessary to start from an initial magnetic state which already contained a vortex

High resolution measurement and modelling of magnetic domain structures in epitaxial FePd (001) L10 films with perpendicular magnetization

Magnetic domain structures in two 50 nm thick chemically-ordered FePd (001) epitaxial films with different perpendicular anisotropies have been studied using Lorentz microscopy. Domain and domain wall structures vary significantly according to the magnitude of the anisotropy. For lower anisotropy films, a stripe domain structure with a period of ≈100 nm is formed in which there is a near-continuous variation in orientation of the magnetization vector. By contrast, in the film with higher anisotropy, a maze-like domain structure is supported. The magnetization within domains is perpendicular to the film plane and adjacent domains are separated by narrow walls, less than 20 nm wide. Micromagnetic modelling is generally in good quantitative agreement with experimental observations and provides additional information on the domain wall structure