Domain walls in ferromagnetic nanoconstriction

180degrees domain walls in ferromagnetic nanoconstrictions are investigated by classical atomic Monte Carlo simulations. Two types of constrictions are considered; one is a uniform circular cylinder (isthmus), the other is a double-truncated cone (hour glass). The wall width is determined by the effective length of the constriction, which may be as little as a nanometer. The wall can have a Neel-like configuration for constrictions much narrower than the normal wall width, but there is a crossover region with vortex-type walls before reaching a Bloch-type wall at larger diameters. In very narrow constrictions, effects of the atomic-scale structure become evident as the domain-wall structure depends on the number of atoms in the cross section. The simulations confirm the prospect of creating very narrow domain walls in a nanoconstricted soft magnetic material, and they indicate the possibility of spontaneous thermal fluctuations between different magnetic modes in walls smaller than about 10 nm. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.