Diameter-independent skyrmion Hall angle observed in chiral magnetic multilayers

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-14232-9

Authors: Katharina Zeissler (University of Leeds) , Simone Finizio (Swiss Light Source) , Craig Barton (National Physical Laboratory, UK) , Alexandra J. Huxtable (University of Leeds) , Jamie Massey (University of Leeds) , Jörg Raabe (Swiss Light Source) , Alexandr V. Sadovnikov (Saratov State University) , Sergey A. Nikitov (Saratov State University; Kotelnikov Institute of Radio-engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) , Richard Brearton (University of Oxford; Diamond Light Source) , Thorsten Hesjedal (University of Oxford) , Gerrit Van Der Laan (Diamond Light Source) , Mark C. Rosamond (University of Leeds) , Edmund H. Linfield (University of Leeds) , Gavin Burnell (University of Leeds) , Christopher H. Marrows (University of Leeds)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Communications , VOL 11

State: Published (Approved)
Published: January 2020

Abstract: Magnetic skyrmions are topologically non-trivial nanoscale objects. Their topology, which originates in their chiral domain wall winding, governs their unique response to a motion-inducing force. When subjected to an electrical current, the chiral winding of the spin texture leads to a deflection of the skyrmion trajectory, characterised by an angle with respect to the applied force direction. This skyrmion Hall angle is predicted to be skyrmion diameter-dependent. In contrast, our experimental study finds that the skyrmion Hall angle is diameter-independent for skyrmions with diameters ranging from 35 to 825 nm. At an average velocity of 6 ± 1 ms−1, the average skyrmion Hall angle was measured to be 9° ± 2°. In fact, the skyrmion dynamics is dominated by the local energy landscape such as materials defects and the local magnetic configuration.

Journal Keywords: Magnetic devices; Magnetic properties and materials

Diamond Keywords: Skyrmions

Subject Areas: Physics, Materials

Facility: Swiss Light Source

Added On: 28/01/2020 11:43

Documents:
s41467-019-14232-9.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Surfaces Quantum Materials Physics Magnetism Materials Science interfaces and thin films

Technical Tags: