Abstract: By the Bitter pattern technique and the energy analysis method, we systematically studied the character and variations of domain structures during the magnetization reversal process along the hard-axis direction of a 40 nm NiFe film stripe. It shows that the Barkhausen jumps in the element are the result of the irreversible domain processes, involving domain wall mergence, closure domain transitions, and wall-state transitions.

Key words: thin film element, magnetization reversal, domain wall, magnetic domain