New effects are observed wherein the internal structure of the domain
walls in a thin magnetic iron garnet film are modified by the action o
f focused laser radiation. A single laser pulse with increasing power
gives rise to the following: 1) displacement of vertical Bloch lines i
n a domain wall; 2) generation of a pair of vertical Bloch lines on in
itially line-free walls; and, 3) an irreversible change in shape of a
domain wall and the domain structure as a whole. The mechanism leading
to the generation and displacement of Bloch lines is connected with t
he motion of domain walls which is induced by a local change in the di
stribution of demagnetizing fields as a result of a heating-induced de
crease of the magnetization in the focal spot of the laser radiation.
(C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.