  The domain patterns in a thin ferromagnetic film are investigated in both
experiments and numerical simulations. Magnetic domain patterns under a zero
field are usually observed after an external magnetic field is removed. It is
demonstrated that the characteristics of the domain patterns depend on the
decreasing rate of the external field, although it can also depend on other
factors. Our numerical simulations and experiments show the following
properties of domain patterns: a sea-island structure appears when the field
decreases rapidly from the saturating field to the zero field, while a
labyrinth structure is observed for a slowly decreasing field. The mechanism of
the dependence on the field sweeping rate is discussed in terms of the concepts
of crystallization.
