Direct observation of the spin configurations of vertical Bloch line

Abstract

We observed the spin configurations of Bloch lines in a ferromagnetic MnAs film on GaAs(001) by conventional magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and tilt-scanning (TS)-MFM. Due to the high lateral resolution of conventional MFM measurements, we were able to demonstrate the out-of-plane magnetic components within the Bloch line. Through vertical stray magnetic field mapping, the TS-MFM operation was shown to enable the detailed measurement and visualization of the spin configurations of the Bloch lines. This direct observation method of the spin configurations of vertical Bloch line structures allowed us to visualize antiparallel domain structure on the out-of-plane rotation of magnetization. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. (doi:10.1063/1.3549694)