Nanoscale magnetic domains in mesoscopic dots: Experimental and theoretical investigations of zero field domain structures

Magnetic submicron cobalt dots with geometrical dimensions comparable to the width of magnetic domains are studied by high resolution magnetic force microscopy. This study reveals a variety of intricate domain patterns controlled by the details of the dot geometry. The width of the geometrically constrained magnetic domains can be tuned by changing the thickness of the dots. Theoretical investigation of the domain structure in the dots accurately describes the domain pattern and the number of domains per dot.