Unconventional Domain-Wall Pairs And Interacting Bloch Lines In A Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Multilayer Thin Film

Bloch lines (BLs) play a key role in determining the static and dynamic behavior of chiral domain walls and skyrmions in multilayer films with a significant Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). Here, using in situ Lorentz phase microscopy, we reveal a type of spin texture termed a type-II domain-wall pair (DWP), stabilized in DMI multilayer thin films with BLs. For a type-II DWP, the Bloch components of each complementary domain wall are parallel, implying opposite chirality. We find that type-II DWPs preferentially form through bifurcation of a type-I DWP and require the formation of at least two BLs. We demonstrate a distinct phase jump associated with type-II DWPs, and further we reveal the role they play in the formation of mixed-character skyrmions where the Bloch component can be of either left- or right-handed chirality.