Dynamic Domainsin Strongly Driven Ferromagnetic FilmsA dissertation accepted bythe Department of Physics ofDarmstadt University of Technologyfor the degree ofDoktor der Naturwissenschaften(Dr. rer. nat.)byKatherine Mayes, B.A., M.Sc.from DublinMain Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. SauermannSecond Supervisor: Prof. Dr. B. DrosselDate of submission: 4th December 2002Date of examination: 27th January 2003Darmstadt 2002D17Contents1 Introduction 42 The Landau-Lifshitz Equation 82.1 Effective Magnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.2 Rotating Reference Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10I Numerical Simulation 123 Notes on Computation and Representation 134 Numerical Dynamic Domains 174.1 Homogeneous State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174.2 Stripes and Bubbles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184.3 Wall Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204.4 Bistability and Hysteresis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234.5 Nature of Critical Threshholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24II Analytical Investigation 275 Homogeneous Solution 285.1 Calculation of Homogeneous Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285.2 Linear Stability Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Domain Features far from the Wall 376.1 Magnetization far from the Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376.