Research Progress on Dynamics of Skyrmions Under the Effect of Pinning

Abstract

Magnetic skyrmions offer the potential as an information carrier for the next-generation storage and computing devices such as racetrack memory devices, logic gates, and even neurocomputing owing to the topology-protected structure, nano-scale size and relatively low driving current compared to traditional devices. The discovery of magnetic skyrmions at room temperature also lays the foundation for realizing room-temperature magnetic skyrmion spintronic devices. Defects and impurities are unavoidable in real materials. These pinning centers significantly affect the dynamics of the skyrmion, including the critical driving current, and the Hall angle, etc. The study on room-temperature magnetic skyrmions in thin films has shown that the effect of pinning can be dominant at room temperature. Hence, the study of pinning effects and the skyrmion-pinning interaction is significant to the motion of magnetic skyrmions at room temperature and the realization of room-temperature magnetic skyrmion spin devices Magnetic skyrmion motion can be strongly modified under the effect of pinning (defects and purities). Moreover, these effects can inspire us to utilize artificial pinning centers to manipulate the dynamics of skyrmions. In this article, we introduce the models for skyrmion motion and pinning effect at room temperature and gives an overview of the methods for creating different types of pinning and their impact on the skyrmions. When pinning is induced by replacing or adding atoms, setting vacancies, changing the material thickness or curvature, or changing magnetic parameters, the skyrmions hall angle will vary. Moreover, the magnetic skyrmions can be fixed in a particular region, move along a specific orbit and overcome thermal perturbations at room temperature under the effect of pinning, which helps to realize magnetic skyrmion spin devices at room temperature.