Domain structures in epitaxial (101~0) Co wires

A systematic investigation of the magnetic domain structure is presented for epitaxial sub-micron (101~0) Co wires characterized by a strong in-plane uniaxial magneto-crystalline anisotropy whose easy axis is oriented perpendicular to the long wire axis. Wires of varying width (100 to 1000 nm) and thickness (30 to 80 nm) were patterned by electron beam lithography and lift-off process. We establish experimentally the boundaries between the ground state transverse single domain state and the open stripe structure as a function of wire thickness and width. Moreover, the stability of the transverse single domain state is investigated as a function of the magnetization history.