Abstract
We report on magnetic imaging study of hexagonal shaped ferromagnetic elements arranged in a ring network. Magnetic force microscopy images revealed the existence of vortex states in the hexagons, which agrees well with the micromagnetic modeling results. By making use of the stray field of moderate strength and well-defined symmetry, which is lacking in vortices formed in circular elements, we show that it is possible to realize vortex chains with well-defined alternative arrangement of chirality in a ring network. The chirality can be switched forth and back using a magnetic field applied along selected edges of the hexagons.