Controlling chiral domain walls in antiferromagnets using spin-wave helicity

Abstract

In antiferromagnets, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction lifts the degeneracy of left- and right-circularly polarized spin waves. This relativistic coupling increases the efficiency of spin-wave-induced domain-wall motion and leads to higher drift velocities. We demonstrate that, in biaxial antiferromagnets, the spin-wave helicity controls both the direction and the magnitude of the magnonic force on chiral domain walls. In this case it is shown that the domain-wall velocity is an order of magnitude faster in the presence of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. In uniaxial antiferromagnets, by contrast, the magnonic force is always propulsive, but its strength is still helicity dependent.