Direct Visualization of a Domain Wall Pinning by Time-Resolved Microscopy in Amorphous Glass-Coated Microwires.

Amorphous glass-coated microwires with positive magnetostriction are composite material with very fast domain wall (DW) propagation that can reach up to 18 km/s. Previously it was shown that such high DW velocity can be explained by the tilted orientation of a DW in static or quasi-static experimental conditions. Here we perform time-resolved observation of a DW in propagation. The shape of a DW is studied via magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) imaging. Time-resolved MOKE microscope operating in the single-shot regime and a static mode is used to ascertain the role of surface pinning on DW velocity fluctuation. It is shown that a tilted DW undergoes complex DW distortions on a local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]