Bubble domains in disc-shaped ferromagnetic particles

We study the fundamental magnetic states of disc-shaped ferromagnetic particles with a uniaxial anisotropy along the symmetry axis. Besides the monodomain, a bidomain state is also identified and studied both numerically and theoretically. This bidomain state consists of two coaxial oppositely magnetized cylindrically symmetric domains and remains stable even at zero bias field, unlike magnetic bubbles in ferromagnetic films. For a given disc thickness we find the critical radius above which the magnetization configuration falls into the bidomain bubble state. The critical radius depends strongly on the film thickness especially for ultrathin films. The effect of an external field is also studied and the bidomain state is found to remain stable over a range of field strengths.