OPTICAL AND NEUTRON DOMAIN-STRUCTURE STUDIES OF AMORPHOUS RIBBONS

The domain configuration of amorphous ribbons with positive, vanishing and negative magnetostriction constant lambda //s has been investigated by means of the longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr-effect and a three-dimensional neutron depolarization analysis. The influence of an external tensile stress on the domain arrangement depends on the sign and the magnitude of the magnetostriction constant and could be measured quantitatively in the depolarization experiment. With the aid of the optical observations domain models have been established; these models were tested and completed by means of an analysic calculation of the corresponding depolarization matrix and a comparison with experimental data. Domain reorientation processes within the ribbons under an imposed tensile stress were found to agree with theoretical predictions.