The motion of diffuse domain walls in thin garnet films (i.e., walls with extreme width), which was observed experimentally when an in-plane magnetic field was applied, is analyzed numerically using a spatiotemporal diagram technique and analysis of the time evolution of pattern entropy. It is found that the motion of such walls is chaotic and experimental observations of diffuse domain walls may be treated as a direct observation of chaotic motion in a magnetic system.

• Received 19 April 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.50.6751