Tuning the domain wall orientation in thin magnetic strips using induced anisotropy

Abstract

The authors report on a method to tune the orientation of in-plane magnetic domains and domain walls in thin ferromagnetic strips by manipulating the magnetic anisotropy of the system. Uniaxial in-plane anisotropy is induced in a controlled way by oblique evaporation of magnetic thin strips. A direct correlation between the magnetization direction and the domain wall orientation is found experimentally and confirmed by micromagnetic simulations. The domain walls in the strips are always oriented along the oblique evaporation-induced easy axis, irrespective of the shape anisotropy. The controlled manipulation of domain wall orientations could provide promising possibilities for recently proposed devices based on domain wall propagation.