Spin configurations and magnetization reversal processes in ultrathin cubic ferromagnetic films with in-plane uniaxial anisotropy

Based on a phenomenological model, spin structures either in the absence or in the presence of an external magnetic field have been studied for ultrathin cubic ferromagnetic films with an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy. Phase diagrams of the spin configurations in the absence of the magnetic field and of different magnetization reversal processes have been given. The magnetization reversal processes in the ultrathin cubic ferromagnetic films have been found to depend sensitively on the competition among the energies of in-plane uniaxial and cubic anisotropies and of the domain wall pinning. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.