A New Type of Cylindrical Magnetic Domain (Hard Bubble)

Abstract
This paper will report on a new type of cylindrical magnetic domain. This domain, called a “hard” bubble (HB) can have markedly different properties from a “normal” bubble (NB). A NB has a diameter range from run‐out to collapse of about 3:1 and a bias field change of about 0.10(4πM), whereas some HB's have a diameter ratio of 10:1 and exist over a bias range of 0.23(4πM). HB's transport with a velocity component perpendicular to a magnetic field gradient as well as the normal parallel component. HB's have been observed with a parallel velocity of 16 cm/sec and a perpendicular velocity of 144 cm/sec, whereas a NB in the same materials and at the identical gradient drive of 1 Oe/micron has a parallel velocity of 1500 cm/sec. There also exists a range of “intermediate” bubbles (IB) with properties between those of NB's and HB's. A model for IB's and HB's consisting of a domain wall that has many Bloch to Néel transitions along the circumference of the bubble has explained both the static and dynamic properties of these bubbles. The different IB's correspond to a varying number of these transitions while a HB has the maximum number. Films that are free from IB's or HB's, which are a necessity for devices, have been made using two magnetic layers or a single layer that has been ion implanted on one side.