Magnetization reversal via the formation of stripe domains in ultrathin Fe films on Cu(100)

Magnetic stripe domains in ultrathin films and their transformation in magnetic fields

“…As was previously calculated [7,8] and now confirmed by Sagnac-SNOM [4,5], the magnetization reversal of ultrathin films in the vicinity of a spin-reorientation transition passes through a stripe-domain phase. How this phase transforms in a changing magnetic field is shown in Fig.…”

“…This is because most highresolution magnetic microscopy techniques, required for imaging those narrow sub-mm wide stripes, do not (or only in a limited way) allow for the application of external magnetic fields. Only very recently, stripe domains in ultrathin films were imaged in the presence of external magnetic fields by spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM) [3] and magneto-optical scanning near-field microscopy (magnetic SNOM) [4,5].In this work, we have studied the magnetic-field induced transformation of the magnetic stripedomain phase for Fe/Cu(1 0 0) ultrathin films by magnetic SNOM. With the SNOM results we can explain the various shapes of magnetization curves (hysteresis loops) measured in the vicinity of the spin-reorientation transition by the polar magneto-optical Kerr effect (polar MOKE).…”

“…This is because most highresolution magnetic microscopy techniques, required for imaging those narrow sub-mm wide stripes, do not (or only in a limited way) allow for the application of external magnetic fields. Only very recently, stripe domains in ultrathin films were imaged in the presence of external magnetic fields by spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM) [3] and magneto-optical scanning near-field microscopy (magnetic SNOM) [4,5].…”

“…The lateral resolution of the instrument is better than 300 nm (at 670 nm wavelength), and the magneto-optical sensitivity amounts to E350 mrad. Details of the experimental setup and the sample preparation are described elsewhere [4,5]. Fig.…”

Monte Carlo simulation of the effects of higher-order anisotropy on the spin reorientation transition in the two-dimensional Heisenberg model with long-range interactions

“…In these systems the ratio of long range dipole coupling and short range exchange coupling can lead to the formation of striped domains of alternating spin direction; either as the ground state [29,30] or as a mechanism of spin reversal [31]. Films have been produced in with stripes observed running parallel with a common orientation [31,30,32], as zig-zags between regular defects [33] or forming complex patterns with no orientational order [34,30]. The width and mobility of stripes depends on temperature [35].…”