Amorphous melt spun ribbons and sputtered thin films — investigation of the magnetic domain structures by TEM

Abstract

The magnetic structures and magnetisation reversal in thinned melt spun ribbons and sputtered amorphous thin films of Metglas 2605SC (Fe81B13.5Si3.5C2) have been studied using Lorentz electron microscopy. In the thinned ribbon material it was found that the magnetic structures were strongly influenced by thickness variations. In the sputtered thin films, there were strong deviations of the mean magnetisation direction within the domains in bands with a sub-micrometer width. The domain wall structure itself was highly complex and wall splitting was found to be a characteristic feature of the walls. The films displayed a tendency to be isotropic and it was always possible to nucleate domain walls parallel to the applied field direction.