A direct visualization of the flux distribution in a Pb film covering a fivefold Penrose array of Co dots is obtained by mapping the local field distribution with a scanning Hall probe microscope. We demonstrate that stable vortex configurations can be found for fields $H\sim 0.8H_1$, $H_1$, and $1.6H_1$, where $H_1$ corresponds to one flux quantum per pinning site. The vortex pattern at $0.8H_1$ corresponds to one vacancy in one of the vertices of the thin tiles, whereas at $1.6H_1$ the vortex structure can be associated with one interstitial vortex inside each thick tile. Strikingly, for $H=1.6H_1$, interstitial and pinned vortices arrange themselves in ringlike structures (“vortex corrals”) which favor the formation of a giant vortex state at their center.

• Received 23 March 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.067007