SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY OF MAGNETIC DOMAIN STRUCTURE OF COBALT SINGLE CRYSTALS

The scanning electron microscope has been used to study the domain structure of cobalt single crystals. This method allows the domain structure in the interior of the crystal to be studied as well as the surface domain structure. The interior structure was found to consist of 180°domain walls which extend through the whole thickness of the crystal in the [0001] direction. Experiments using a heating stage indicated that the surface domain structure altered gradually on heating, but the interior structure remained unchanged up to approximately 240°C, and that the changes which occurred above this temperature were partially reversible.