A classical (Y Sm Lu Ca)3(Fe Ge)5O12bubble garnet, supporting 1.8‐&mgr;m bubbles, has been implanted with 1.5×1016D+2cm2at 60 keV either directly or through a predeposited 100‐A˚‐thick silica layer. Nuclear techniques such as D (3He, &agr;)pnuclear reaction and Rutherford backscattering combined with channeling measurements were used to determine the implant and damage profiles, respectively. Double‐crystal x‐ray diffraction was used to measure the maximum strain and magnetic properties were obtained from ferromagnetic resonance. The evolution of these parameters has been studied as a function of annealing treatments. It follows that, as compared to hydrogen, deuterium also interacts at damage‐level inducing within the garnet new magnetic phenomena. A higher annealing temperature is required for bubble memory applications. The silica overlayer which is useful for increasing the anisotropy field change, somewhat affects the magnetic properties of the implanted layer.