Magnetic triangular bubble lattices in bismuth-doped yttrium iron garnet

Abstract

Magnetic bubbles have again become a subject of significant attention following the experimental observation of topologically nontrivial magnetic skyrmions. In recent work, tailoring the shape of the bubbles is considered a key factor for their dynamics in spintronic devices. In addition to the reported circular, elliptical, and square bubbles, here we observe triangular bubble domains in bismuth-doped yttrium iron garnet (Bi-YIG) using Kerr microscopy. The bubble domains evolve from discrete circular to latticed triangular and hexagonal shapes. Further, the orientation of the triangular bubbles in the hexagonal lattices can be flipped by decreasing the magnetic field. The sixfold in-plane magnetic anisotropy of Bi-YIG(111) crystal, which is presumably the mechanism underlying the triangular shape of the bubbles, is measured as 1179 erg/cm3. The study of the morphologies of topologically trivial bubbles in YIG offers insight into nontrivial spin textures, which is appealing for future spintronic applications.