Combined electrical and magneto-optical measurements of the magnetization reversal process at a domain wall trap.

Abstract

We have performed combined electrical and magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements on Permalloy nanowires containing artificial symmetric protrusions. This has enabled us to construct a detailed picture of the energy landscape of such a trap, in excellent agreement with predictions based on recent results. In addition with the aid of micromagnetic simulations, we demonstrate how variations in the observed resistance with respect to the applied field can give us insight into the entire depinning and nucleation processes at domain wall traps.