On Temperature Dependence of Domain Structure in Cobalt

The type-I magnetic contrast in a scanning electron microscope is used to study the domain behaviour on the basal planes of cobalt monocryslals of different thicknesses during a heating cycle. Digital image processing is applied to the original scanning electron microscope images for their restora tion, enhancement and analysis. The main reasons for the application of digital image processing are: low level of type-I magnetic contrast, particularly used at the higher temperatures, and the complex character of the magnetic domain structure. The changes in both domain structures and type-I magnetic contrast are due to the strong temperature dependence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy for the hcp phase of cobalt, which implies the rotation of magnetic easy axis from the c-axis to the basal plane. The temperature of the magnetic phase transition between an open-flux and a closed-flux domain configuration was found to be dependent on the specimen thickness. The changes in domain structure during the heating cycle were reversible under the condition that the specimen was not carried through the hcp-to-fcc phase transition. Otherwise, they were partially or completely irreversible and were caused by crystal imperfections originating from the transition. The paper shows the great advantage of using digital image processing system for data restoration, enhancement and analysis.