THE CALCULATION OF PERIODIC DOMAINS IN UNIAXIAL LAYERS BY A MICROMAGNETIC DOMAIN MODEL

Periodic domains in uniaxial magnetic films with perpendicular easy direction are computed with a domain model which simulates the continuous magnetization distribution expected in the closure regions near the surfaces. The critical thickness for stripe domain nucleation given by this model is in quantitative agreement with rigorous micromagnetic calculations. The model is used to obtain an overview of domain behavior especially in the range of intermediate anisotropies which is of interest in perpendicular recording.