title: Magnetic microstructure of the spin reorientation transition: a computer experiment.
abstract: The scenario of the spin reorientation in two-dimensional films within first-order anisotropy approximation is theoretically studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The magnetic microstructure is investigated as a function of the ratio of the perpendicular anisotropy energy to the dipolar one. If the anisotropy dominates, out-of-plane domains will be found while in-plane vortices appear for a vanishing anisotropy. In the range of comparable anisotropy and dipolar energies a complex domain pattern evolves yielding a continuous transition between the two structures. The structure with equally distributed magnetic moment orientations is stable at the point where anisotropy and dipolar energies cancel each other.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, 06120 Halle, Germany. vedmeden@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: E Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Vedmedenko
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Oepen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghazali
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lévy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kirschner