Research progress on topological properties and micro-magnetic simulation study in dynamics of magnetic skyrmions

Abstract

Skyrmions, as a nontrivial topological magnetic structure, have the advantages of topological stability, small size and low driving electrical current, showing potential applications in spintronic memory device. There are several mechanisms for skyrmion formation in magnets. One major mechanism is, in chiral-lattice ferromagnets, the competition between the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and ferromagnetic exchange interactions, due to the lack of spatial inversion symmetry. The combination of topology and condensed physics demonstrates various new topological phenomena of skyrmions, which also determine their dynamics. In this review, recent progress on the topological physics foundation of Skyrmions, as well as their dynamics of application in spintronics devices, is reviewed. The topological physics foundations of skyrmions is introduced. Firstly, the structure of skyrmions, which shows a special nontrivial topology in the real space, is presented accompanied with the formation of skyrmions caused by Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interactions in chiral magnets. Secondly, due to the importance of the describable method of the topology of a skyrmion, the topological charge, that characterize the topology, as well as the calculation method are introduced. Also, the arising topological stability is discussed here. Then, the typical topological effects arising from the topology of a skyrmion, including topological Hall effect and the skyrmion Hall effect are reviewed. The next is the introduction of the helical and the spiral spin configuration, the alternatives for Bloch and Nal type skyrmions respectively, which show up under lower external magnetic field with the same interaction. Also the phase transition of the helical/spiral state to skyrmions and the Monte Carlo method to simulate the spin configuration of a chiral magnet are introduced. At last, the spin orbital torque and the spin transfer torque, that describe the driven effect of a skyrmion by an electrical current or a thermal field, are reviewed. The consequence dynamics of skyrmions, the Landau-LifshitzGilbert equation, are also introduced. The recent progress of typical dynamics of skyrmions on several concerned problems in practical applications are reviewed. The applications in spintronics memory require skyrmions have steady transportation driven by electrical current and controllable creation and annihilation process. Firstly, skyrmion can be generated by the spatial nonuniform electric current with a certain geometry constrain. Especially for the Nal type skyrmion, nonuniformity of the spin orbital torque, come from the non-uniform electric current, play an important role in the skyrmion generation process. Secondly, skyrmion moves with a perpendicular velocity under an electrical current, because of the skyrmion Hall effect. So the elimination of skyrmion Hall effect is practically concerned to make the transportation steady. The anti-ferromagnetic skyrmion and antiferromagnetic coupled skyrmion bilayer are found with no skyrmion Hall effect by have two opposite component cancel out. Finally, with topological stability, skyrmions are hard to convert from and to a nontrivial topological spin configuration at low temperature. So the manipulation of skyrmion creation and annihilation are discussed accompanied with their difference of Bloch and Nal type skyrmiom.