High Susceptibility Domain Configuration In Micron-Sized Ferromagnetic Stripes

We report on a newly discovered domain configuration, observed with a magneto-optical microscope, in narrow stripes of NiCoFe, CoFeCu and NiFe. The stripes - 1 to 25 mu m wide and 0.5 to 2.0 mu m thick - are used here as a model far a narrow-track pole of a recording head. The new domain configuration, with its magnetization oriented mostly in a plane perpendicular to the long dimension of the stripe, suggests the possibility of obtaining a large high-frequency susceptibility even in recording head poles as narrow as 1 mu m.