Magnetic Domains. The Analysis of Magnetic Microstructures

Abstract

A. Hubert and R. Schafer, Magnetic Domains. The Analysis of Magnetic Microstructures, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York ~1998!, 720 pp., 400 figs., ISBN 3-540-64108-4 An overwhelming majority of magnetic materials used in science and engineering exist in the polydomain state. Hence the physical properties of magnetic domains and their evolution in external magnetic fields determine most of the functional characteristics of devices containing magnetic components. Decades of intensive studies have yielded numerous methods for observing and analyzing magnetic domains and a large body of experimental results, as well as different theoretical methods which were developed for describing the polydomain states. Recent advances in the field of nanotechnology have led to the production of basically new magnetic materials, which has further stimulated fundamental and applied research of magnetic domains. This is mainly due to the fact that at the current level of miniaturization of magnetoelectronic instruments, the behavior of individual domains affects significantly the functioning of such devices. In spite of the large number of monographs and reviews devoted to individual aspects of the physics of magnetic domains, the present book is the first attempt in the world literature to present this comprehensive branch of magnetism in a single volume. The book is authored by Prof. Alex Hubert, a leading authority in the field of magnetic materials science, and his pupil Dr. R. Schafer, a specialist in magneto-optical research. It should be recalled that Hubert’s monograph entitled ‘‘Theorie der Domanenwande in Geordneten Medien’’ ~Theory of Domain Walls in Ordered Media! ~Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1974!, which was also translated into Russian in 1977 by Mir Publishers, Moscow, continues to be one of the most veritable publications on the basic principles of the physics of domain walls in condensed media. The authors of the project realized it at the expense of enormous efforts and time. The book was written over a very long time ~beginning in 1984!. During this period, the authors gathered, analyzed and systematized a very large number of publications devoted to the experimental, theoretical and applied aspects of the investigations of domain structure. The monograph has an elegant and carefully planned structure. The historical review presented in Chapter 1 is followed by a detailed description of the methods of