Effect of nonuniform mechanical stresses on the domain structure of iron borate

Abstract

A magnetooptic method is used to study the effect of nonuniform radial mechanical stresses on the domain structure, magnetic susceptibility, and magnetic hysteresis loops of a FeBO₃ single crystal. When a magnetic field is applied in the basal plane of FeBO₃ along the stress vector, a system of tapered domains appears in the crystal during magnetization. These domains exist in a certain temperature-dependent field range H ₀ ≤ H ≤ H _c . The appearance of a system of tapered domains is found to substantially affect the technical magnetization of a stressed crystal. The results obtained are discussed within the thermodynamic theory of a domain structure. A theoretical model used is shown to adequately describe the experimental temperature and field dependences of the ratio ${D \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {D {\sqrt L }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\sqrt L }}$ (where D and L are the average width and length of a tapered domain, respectively). The calculated value of D is approximately 1.3 times smaller than the experimentally observed domain width.