A New Type of Cylindrical Magnetic Domain (Bubble Isomers)

Abstract

Cylindrical magnetic domains (bubbles) are, by now, well known. Their device applications <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sup> and theoretical description <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> have been adequately described. We shall call these bubbles “normal” (NB). In this B.S.T.J. Brief we wish to describe a new type of cylindrical domain that can coexist in many of the materials that support NB's. They were first observed by R. F. Fischer and R. H. Morrow of Bell Laboratories while testing a Y-Bar shift register using a platelet cut from bulk GdTblG. These domains, which we shall call “hard” bubbles (HB), have properties that can be substantially different from NB's.