Micromagnetic investigation of domain and domain wall evolution through the spin-reorientation transition of an epitaxial NdCo5 film

Abstract

The domain pattern and the domain wall microstructure throughout the spin-reorientation transition of an epitaxial NdCo _5 thin film are investigated by micromagnetic simulations. The temperature-dependent anisotropy constants K _1 and K _2 , which define the anisotropy energy term in the model, are chosen to reflect the easy axis—easy cone—easy plane spin-reorientation transition observed in epitaxial NdCo _5 thin films. Starting at the high-temperature easy c -axis regime, the anisotropy constants are changed systematically corresponding to a lowering of the temperature of the system. The character of the domain walls and their profiles are analysed. The calculated domain configurations are compared to the experimentally observed temperature-dependent domain structure of an in-plane textured NdCo _5 thin film.

Keywords

• NdCo5
• spin reorientation transition
• micromagnetic simulation
• scanning electron microscope with polarisation analysis
• thin film
• pinning