Stability of magnetic vortex in soft magnetic nano-sized circular cylinder

Stability of magnetic vortex with respect to displacement of its center in a nano-scale circular cylinder made of soft ferromagnetic material is studied theoretically. The mode of vortex displacement producing no magnetic charges on the cylinder side is proposed and the corresponding absolute single-domain radius of the cylinder is calculated as a function of its thickness and the exchange length of the material. In cylinders with the radii less than the single-domain radius the vortex state is unstable and is absolutely prohibited (except if pinned by material imperfections), so that the distribution of the magnetization vector in such cylinders in no applied magnetic field is uniform (or quasi-uniform). The phase diagram of nano-scale cylinders including the stability line and the metastability region obtained here is presented. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.