Observation of remanent states of small magnetic particles: Micromagnetic simulation and experiment

Micromagnetic properties of submicron ferromagnetic elements ellipsoidal in shape are studied theoretically and experimentally. By numerically solving the equations of magnetodynamics, it is found that different remanent magnetization states can be obtained, depending on the manner of magnetization reversal in such elements: one-vortex states, two-vortex states, and vortex-free states with skew-symmetric spin pinning. The magnetization configurations predicted in the calculations have been observed experimentally using magnetic force microscopy in regular lattices of microstructures formed in thin-film samples of Fe-Cr alloys under irradiation by interfering laser beams.