Deformation stability of a flat domain wall in magnetic films

Abstract

The forces determining the orientation of domain walls in films of magnetooptic materials with a figure of merit of order unity are studied. The behavior of small perturbations of the position of a flat domain wall in the presence of an in-plane component of the anisotropy vector is analyzed. The forces arising when the orientation of the domain wall deviates from the easy-magnetization axis and striving to return the wall to its initial state are conventionally represented as a gradient “effective magnetic field.” The forces exerted by the “effective field, ” due to the in-plane component of the anisotropy vector, on the perturbed domain wall are calculated. The orientational stability conditions for a planar domain wall are found. An explanation is given for the experimentally observed predominant orientation of striped domains.