Current-Driven Skyrmion Dynamics Along Curved Tracks

Abstract

The current-driven skyrmion (Sk) motion along two exchange-coupled ferromagnetic (FM) layers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is studied by means of micromagnetic simulations and compared to the conventional case of a single FM layer. Our results indicate that the two coupled Sks can be synchronously driven along each FM layer in the presence of a strong interlayer exchange coupling and that the velocity is significantly enhanced due to the antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange coupling as compared with the single-FM-layer case. The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction gives the required chirality to the magnetization textures, while the interlayer exchange coupling favors the synchronous movement of the coupled Sks by a dragging mechanism, without depicting the unwanted Sk Hall effect. This observation is particularly relevant to drive Sks along curved strips, which are also evaluated here. Sks move with different velocities along single FM stacks with curved parts. On the contrary, the AF coupling between the FM layers mitigates the Sk Hall effect, which suggests these systems to achieve efficient and highly packed displacement of trains of Sks for spintronics devices. A study taking into account defects and thermal fluctuations analyzes the validity range of these claims.