Controlled motion of skyrmions in a magnetic antidot lattice

Abstract

Future spintronic devices based on skyrmions will require precise control of the skyrmion motion. We show that this goal can be achieved through the use of magnetic antidot arrays. With micromagnetic simulations and semi-analytical calculations based on Thiele equation, we demonstrate that an antidot array can guide the skyrmions in different directions depending on the parameters of the applied current pulse. Despite the fixed direction of the net driving current, due to the non-trivial interplay between the repulsive potential introduced by the antidots, the skyrmion Hall effect and the non-uniform current distribution, full control of skyrmion motion in a 2D lattice can be achieved. Moreover, we demonstrate that the direction of skyrmion motion can be controlled by tuning only a single parameter of the current pulse, i.e. current magnitude. For lower current magnitudes the skyrmion can be moved perpendicularly to the current direction, and can overcome the skyrmion Hall effect. For larger current magnitudes, the skyrmion Hall effect can be effectively suppressed and skyrmions can move parallel to the applied current.