DIRECTIONALLY ALTERNATING DOMAIN-WALL PROPAGATION IN BISTABLE AMORPHOUS WIRES

For iron-rich magnetostrictive bistable amorphous wires made by the in water quenching technique, the domain wall propagation changes direction after each magnetization reversal. This unique behavior suggests that the reverse-domain walls in the propagation rear end are pinned more tightly than those in the front end, which then becomes the starting end for the next magnetic reversal. The difference in the pinning strength between both ends is not ascribed to the aftereffect but may be due to different reverse domain structures therein.