Domain wall motion in micron-sized permalloy elements

The magnetization reversal process in an array micron sized NiFe patterns was studied using magnetic force microscopy in the presence of external fields. The behavior of the magnetization distribution was correlated with the aspect ratio and the direction of the applied fields. Magnetizing along the hard axis was found to produce solenoidal magnetization at remanence while applying the field along the easy axis tend to form nonsolenoidal configurations. The micromagnetic evolution, which involved domain wall, crosstie, and vortex displacements, was studied and the correlations were consistent with previously reported M-H loop observations and theoretical predictions. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)21208-X].