Magnetostatic Energy and Stripe Domain Structure in a Ferromagnetic Plate of Finite Width with In-Plane Anisotropy

The magnetostatic energy and domain structure (DS) in a long ferromagnetic plate of a finite width with in-plane anisotropy are calculated for the case of the domain magnetization vectors lying in the plane of the plate. The situation where the DS period is much shorter than the width but is considerably larger than the thickness of the plate is analyzed in detail. The equilibrium DS period and the width ratio of two adjacent domains are determined as functions of an external magnetic field parallel to the plane of the plate by minimizing the energy. The DS period is found to be proportional to the plate width and the domain wall energy and inversely proportional to the squared saturation magnetization. While the width of the favorable domains (with the magnetization parallel to the field) grows with increasing field, the unfavorable domains, rather than disappearing completely, form relatively narrow transition regions between the favorable domains, i.e., 360 degrees domain walls. (C) 2002 MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica.