Nonequilibrium Magnetic Domain Structures as a Function of Speed of Switching Process in Ni $_{80}$Fe$_{20}$ Thin-Film Element

The influence of the speed of the switching process on the nonequilibrium domain structures in magnetic thin-film elements undergoing large angle rotations was studied with time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy and numerical modelings. In particular, the systematic evolution of the spatiotemporal nature of the reversal of a small Ni
₈₀
Fe
₂₀
element to progressively faster switching fields has been investigated. Generally, the magnetization evolves into a complex domain structure in nonequilibrium state when a magnetic element is excited by applying a short magnetic field pulse. The degree of complexity of the nonequilibrium domain structure is found to be a strong function of the speed of the switching process