Temperature dependence of magnetic stripe domain period in ultrathin films

In ultrathin films, due to the thermal activation and temperature dependencies of the magnetic parameters, magnetization reversal processes are strongly affected by thermal effects. We analyze changes of domain periods of ultrathin cobalt and L10 films in a wide temperature range. With regard to the temperature dependencies of the film magnetic parameters we calculate the equilibrium stripe period as a function of temperature. It is shown that on film heating the equilibrium domain structure (DS) period decreases and at the reorientation phase transition (RPT) approaches its minimal value corresponding to the temperature independent period of the sinusoidal domain structure. Just below the RPT temperature (or thickness) the stripe domain period was found to exponentially decrease with temperature. Irreversible temperature changes of the domain period affected by coercivity are also discussed