Coercivity and wall motion

Abstract

The process of magnetization reversal in ferromagnets with uniaxial crystal anisotropy is discussed. It is shown that the \"critical-size concept\" has no relevance to coercivity. Critical fields are distinguished as nucleation fields and propagation, or pinning, fields. The pinning of walls is discussed and illustrated by experiments on various substances. Intrinsic pinning in highly anisotropic materials is predicted.