Novel Magnetic Domain Structure in Iron Meteorite Induced by the Presence of L1(0)-FeNi

Photoelectron emission microscopy has been carried out to study the magnetic properties of iron meteorite associated with the Widmanstatten structure for the first time. A magnetic circular dichroic image reveals a unique magnetic domain structure, resulting in the head-on'' magnetic coupling over the interface between the alpha and gamma lamellae. Such a magnetic domain structure is unfavorable in any synthetic Fe-Ni alloys. Micromagnetics simulation reasonably explains that the formation of magnetic domains is induced by the L1(0)-type FeNi (tetrataenite) phase segregated at the boundary in the Widmanstatten structure. (C) 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics