Size and orientation effect on micromagnetic states in rectangular epitaxial Fe (011) microstructures

Magnetic states in rectangular epitaxial 60nm thick Fe (011) microstructures grown on the A-plane of sapphire with a Mo seed layer were studied by magnetic-force microscopy (MFM) and micromagnetic calculations. These micro-size elements were oriented so that the long axis was parallel or perpendicular to the easy axis of magnetization (EAM), the rectangles width was 0.1 to 8µm and the aspect ratios (AR) were 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8. For such micro-size elements, the width to AR diagrams of magnetic states arising in the zero magnetic field were constructed using MFM and micromagnetic calculation methods. The dependence of the arising magnetic states on the microstructure size was examined. •Magnetic states diagrams.•Size effect.•Epitaxial Fe(011) rectangles.•Magnetic force microscopy.•Micromagnetic calculations.