- published: 27 Oct 2015
- views: 490
In particle theory, the skyrmion (/ˈskɜːrmi.ɒn/) is a hypothetical particle related originally to baryons. It was described by Tony Skyrme in 1962 and consists of a quantum superposition of baryons and resonance states. It could be predicted from some nuclear matter properties.
Skyrmions as topological objects are important in solid state physics, especially in the emerging technology of spintronics. A two-dimensional magnetic skyrmion, as a topological object, is formed, e.g., from a 3D effective-spin "hedgehog" (in the field of micromagnetics: out of a so-called "Bloch point" singularity of homotopy degree +1) by a stereographic projection, whereby the positive north-pole spin is mapped onto a far-off edge circle of a 2D-disk, while the negative south-pole spin is mapped onto the center of the disk.
In field theory, skyrmions are homotopically non-trivial classical solutions of a nonlinear sigma model with a non-trivial target manifold topology – hence, they are topological solitons. An example occurs in chiral models of mesons, where the target manifold is a homogeneous space of the structure group
Antiferromagnetic Skyrmion: Stability, Creation and Manipulation. Xichao Zhang et al (2016), Scientific Reports http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep24795 Magnetic skyrmions are particle-like topological excitations in ferromagnets, which have the topo-logical number Q = ± 1, and hence show the skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE) due to the Magnus force effect originating from the topology. Here, we propose the counterpart of the magnetic skyrmion in the antiferromagnetic (AFM) system, that is, the AFM skyrmion, which is topologically protected but without showing the SkHE. Two approaches for creating the AFM skyrmion have been described based on micromagnetic lattice simulations: (i) by injecting a vertical spin-polarized current to a nanodisk with the AFM ground state; (ii) by converting an AFM domain...
Supplementary movie for "Switching of chiral magnetic skyrmions by picosecond magnetic field pulses via transient topological states". See http://arxiv.org/abs/1601.08212 The movie shows sequential switching of the skyrmion driven by the series of magnetic field pulses with amplitude of B = 3 Tesla and Gaussian pulse duration of 15 ps with alternating polar angles 45 and 135 degrees. The simulated domain has square shape of 100 x 100 x 3 spins, the material parameters J=5 meV, D/J=0.16, K/J=0.1, damping=0.1 and open boundary conditions.
Magnetic skyrmion logic gates: conversion, duplication and merging of skyrmions. Xichao Zhang et al (2015), Scientific Reports http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150324/srep09400/full/srep09400.html Magnetic skyrmions, which are topological particle-like excitations in ferromagnets, have attracted a lot of attention recently. Skyrmionics is an attempt to use magnetic skyrmions as information carriers in next generation spintronic devices. Proposals of manipulations and operations of skyrmions are highly desired. Here, we show that the conversion, duplication and merging of isolated skyrmions with different chirality and topology are possible all in one system. We also demonstrate the conversion of a skyrmion into another form of a skyrmion, i.e., a bimeron. We design spin logic gates such as...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1508.04786
Universal helimagnon and skyrmion excitations in metallic, semiconducting and insulating chiral magnets. T. Schwarze et al (2015), Nature Materials http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat4223 Nearly seven decades of research on microwave excitations of magnetic materials have led to a wide range of applications in electronics. The recent discovery of topological spin solitons in chiral magnets, so-called skyrmions, promises high-frequency devices that exploit the exceptional emergent electrodynamics of these compounds. Therefore, an accurate and unified quantitative account of their resonant response is key. Here, we report all-electrical spectroscopy of the collective spin excitations in the metallic, semiconducting and insulating chiral magnets MnSi, Fe1−xCoxSi and Cu2OSeO3, respectively, using ...
The use of nanoscale magnetic whirlpools, known as magnetic skyrmions, to create novel and efficient ways to store data is being explored in a new research project led by Durham University and funded by the EPSRC.