Domain splitting in epitaxial [formula omitted] films during hard axis reversal

Abstract

We report scanning Kerr microscopy observations of a fine-scale (1–5 μm) magnetic domain structure in epitaxial Fe GaAs(001) thin films. This fine-scale domain structure develops only during the magnetisation reversal process with fields applied very close (< 1 °) to the hard anisotropy axis and results from sub-micron-scale inhomogeneities in the film structure. We show that this fine-scale domain structure is responsible for the previously reported collapse (Daboo et al., Phys. Rev. B, 22 (1995) 15964) of the hysteresis loops probed for the magnetisation component M perp perpendicular to the applied field in the plane of the film.