Labyrinth and Stripe Domains in Bismuth doped YIG thin films: Experiment and Theory

We report magneto-optical measurements of stripe and labyrinthine domains in Bi doped Yitrium Iron Garnet single crystal films with perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy. High resolution images are captured with a digital camera thus enabling comprehensive post acquisition analysis of the domain patterns and their movement with changing DC applied fields. Measurements made with the field at different orientations with respect to the plane of the film will be reported. The use of pattern recognition software reveals key signatures of the domain patterns that contribute to the bulk of the changes observed in the characteristic magnetization hysteresis loops. These key features are also captured by a model Hamiltonian with exchange, anisotropy and long-range dipole-dipole interaction terms which we solve numerically using the package OOMMF. .