The Influence of Domain Structure on the Magnetization Curves of Single Crystals

It is pointed out that the lack of agreement between theoretical and experimental magnetization curves found for single crystals in low fields is probably caused, not by residual internal strains, but by neglect of the domain structure of the crystal in the theoretical calculations. Using Neel's model for the domain structure of a single crystal of iron in the form of a strip parallel to the [110] direction, magnetization curves have been calculated taking the domain structure into proper account. It is found that the (I, H) curves depend explicitly on the width of the crystal. Comparison is made between the calculated curves and the experimental results of Williams. The agreement between the two is good.