We report a time resolved imaging and micromagnetic simulation study of the relaxation dynamics of a magnetic vortex in the non-linear regime. We use time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy and micromagnetic calculations to examine the emerge
nce of non-linear vortex dynamics in patterned Ni80Fe20 disks in the limit of long field pulses. We show for core shifts beyond ~20-25% of the disk radius, the initial motion is characterized by distortions of the vortex, a transient cross-tie wall state, and instabilities in the core polarization that influence the core trajectories.
