Deterministic roughening in the dc-driven precessional regime of domain walls
Abstract
We numerically study the dynamics of extended domain walls in homogeneous ferromagnets driven by a uniform magnetic field at zero temperature. Using both micromagnetic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert simulations and a collective-coordinate model, we show that flat domain walls become linearly unstable above the Walker breakdown field and below a higher threshold, provided their length exceeds a characteristic value. This instability is captured by a quasi-universal spectral diagram, parameterized solely by the Gilbert damping, that predicts the onset of deviations from rigid-wall behavior. Beyond the linear regime, large domain walls with bands of unstable modes exhibit spatiotemporal chaos, intricate Bloch line motion, and deterministic roughening. The system undergoes a dynamical phase transition from a flat to a rough moving phase at a critical field.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Magnetic properties of thin films
Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation
Theoretical and Computational Physics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 6
- Publication date
- 14 January 2026
- Language
- EN