Unidirectional effect in domain wall propagation observed in bistable glass-coated microwire

•Unidirectional effect in domain wall propagation was observed.•The magnitude and sign of the unidirectional effect can change along the wire.•A hypothesis for interpretation of the unidirectional effect is proposed.

Systematic study of domain wall velocity versus applied magnetic field dependences in glass-coated amorphous Fe77.5Si7.5B15 wire was carried out, revealing the existence of a very interesting phenomenon. Domain wall mobility can be significantly different in cases when magnetization reversal caused by domain wall motion results in different orientation of magnetization. The magnitude and sign of this so-called unidirectional effect can change along the wire. There are also samples with weak unidirectional effect in which it is possible, in regions of higher values of applied magnetic field, to observe the highest wall velocities. It is very probable that damping of domain wall motion is responsible for this effect. As a hypothesis a mechanism based on eddy current damping of domain wall motion was proposed for interpretation of this effect. In the framework of this mechanism asymmetric and non-linear volt-ampere characteristics of the metal–glass interface might be responsible for the unidirectional effect.