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Ferromagnetic domain distribution in thin films during magnetization reversal
W.-T. Lee, S. G. E. te Velthuis, G. P. Felcher, F. Klose, T. Gredig, and E. D. Dahlberg
It is shown that polarized neutron reflectometry can determine in a model-free way not only the mean
magnetization of a ferromagnetic thin film at any point of a hysteresis cycle, but also the mean-square
dispersion of the magnetization vectors of its lateral domains. This technique is applied to elucidate the
mechanism of magnetization reversal of an exchange-biased Co/CoO bilayer. The reversal process above the
blocking temperature Tb is governed by uniaxial domain switching, while below Tb the reversal of magnetization
for the trained sample takes place with substantial domain rotation.