Transient magnetic-domain-wall ac dynamics by means of magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy

Abstract

Magnetic domain walls can be described within the general framework of disordered elastic systems, which accounts well for most of their dynamical and geometrical properties. Beyond the theoretical predictions, the authors report here unexpected features observed under the application of alternating square pulses. In particular, magneto-optical images show that domain walls evolve toward strongly distorted shapes concomitantly with a reduction of domain area. The evolution of the morphology is characterized, and the underlying physics is discussed.