Spiral magnetic domain structure in cylindrically-shaped microwires

Abstract

Identification and characterisation of novel and unusual magnetization states remains a topic of research in modern magnetism. Recently, control of the magnetization state between the surface and volume in cylindrical microwires with the giant magneto-impedance effect has been demonstrated. Herein, the phenomenon of spatial migration of spiral magnetic domains inside a microwire is demonstrated using the magneto-optical Kerr effect. The main properties of the inclined spiral structure were determined, where the surface domain structure possessed a length limited only by actual sample length. Transformation of the structure from a spiral to an elliptical structure could be controlled by external torsion stress. Hysteresis and magnetic images were simulated based on a model assuming a spatial distribution of the internal stress inside the microwire, whose results were consistent with the experimental results. A consistent interpretation of the results in terms of the formation and transformation of the spiral magnetic domain structure is proposed.