Micromagnetic simulation of the domain structure of a flat rectangular permalloy prism

Magnetic domain states of a permalloy prism 1 μm×500 nm×250 nm are calculated by means of three-dimensional finite element modeling. We obtain the four-domain Landau structure and the seven-domain “diamond” structure by using different starting conditions. Both domain patterns are sheared on the surfaces. This shearing is attributed to bulk effects of the magnetic structure. As an example, the role of head-to-head domain walls in the diamond structure is discussed. Adaptive mesh refinement methods are used to minimize the discretization errors.