Magnetic domain wall pinning in cobalt ferrite microstructures

A detailed correlative structural, magnetic and chemical analysis of non-stoichiometric cobalt ferrite micrometric crystals was performed by x-ray circular dichroism combined with photoemission microscopy, low energy electron atomic force microscopy. The vector magnetization at the nanoscale is obtained from images different incidence angles compared micromagnetic simulations, revealing presence defects which pin domain walls. comparison types walls location suggests that main source pinning in these microcrystals are linear structural induced spinel substrate steps underneath islands.