Neel-type Skyrmions Research Articles

Mutual conversion between a magnetic Néel hopfion and a Néel toron

Three-dimensional (3D) magnetic textures attract great attention from researchers due to their fascinating structures and dynamic behaviors. Magnetic hopfion is a prominent example of 3D magnetic textures. Here, we numerically study the mutual conversion between a Neel-type hopfion and a Neel-type toron under an external magnetic field. We also investigate the excitation modes of hopfions and torons in a film with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. It is found that the Neel-type hopfion could be a stable state in the absence of the external magnetic field, and its diameter varies with the out-of-plane magnetic field. The Neel-type hopfion may transform to a Neel-type toron at an out-of-plane magnetic field of about 20 mT, where the cross section structure is a Neel-type skyrmion. The hopfion and toron show different excitation modes in the presence of an in-plane microwave magnetic field. Our results provide a method to realize the conversion between a Neel-type hopfion and a Neel-type toron, which also gives a way to distinguish Bloch-type and Neel-type hopfions.

Spin dynamics in the skyrmion-host lacunar spinel GaV4S8

In the lacunar spinel GaV4S8, the interplay of spin, charge, and orbital degrees of freedom produces a rich phase diagram that includes an unusual Neel-type skyrmion phase composed of molecular spins. To provide insight into the interactions underlying this complex phase diagram, we study the spin excitations in GaV4S8 through inelastic neutron scattering measurements on polycrystalline and single-crystal samples. Using linear spin-wave theory, we describe the spin-wave excitations using a model where V4 clusters decorate an FCC lattice. The effective cluster model includes a ferromagnetic interaction and a weaker antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction between the neighboring molecular spins. Our work clarifies the spin interactions in GaV4S8 and supports the picture of interacting molecular clusters.

Optical spin–orbit coupling in the presence of magnetization: photonic skyrmion interaction with magnetic domains

Abstract Polarization and related spin properties are important characteristics of electromagnetic waves and their manipulation is crucial in almost all photonic applications. Magnetic materials are often used for controlling light polarization through the magneto-optical Kerr or Faraday effects. Recently, complex topological structures of the optical spin have been demonstrated in the evanescent light field, which in the presence of the spin–orbit coupling may form photonic skyrmions. Here, we investigate the optical spin–orbit coupling in the presence of magnetization and the interaction between photonic skyrmions and magnetic domains. We demonstrate that the magnetization is responsible for the modulation of the optical spin distribution, resulting in twisted Neel-type skyrmions. This effect can be used for the visualization of magnetic domain structure with both in plane and polar orientation of magnetization, and in turn for creation of complex optical spin distributions using magnetization patterns. The demonstrated interplay between photonic skyrmions and magneto-optical effects may also provide novel opportunities for investigation and manipulation of magnetic skyrmions using optical spin–orbit coupling.

Imaging the spin chirality of ferrimagnetic Néel skyrmions stabilized on topological antiferromagnetic Mn3Sn

Fabricating new skyrmion-hosting materials and characterizing their topological spin textures are crucial for next-generation spintronic devices. Here, the authors successfully stabilize ferrimagnetic Neel-type skyrmions in heavy-metal-free multilayer CoTb films through interfacing with noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn${}_{3}$Sn layers, in which the spin chirality can be controlled by the opposite stacking order. Further, a new Lorentz scanning transmission electron microscopy technique is employed to resolve both the internal spin structure of the skyrmions and their chirality. Their results show how noncollinear topological antiferromagnets can be incorporated to design chiral nanomagnets, and set a possible route for bridging antiferromagnet spintronics with skyrmionics.

Interaction of a Néel-type skyrmion with a superconducting vortex

Superconductor-ferromagnet heterostructures hosting vortices and skyrmions are new area of an interplay between superconductivity and magnetism. We study an interaction of a Neel-type skyrmion and a Pearl vortex in thin heterostructures due to stray fields. Surprisingly, we find that it can be energetically favorable for the Pearl vortex to be situated at some nonzero distance from the center of the Neel-type skyrmion. The presence of a vortex-antivortex pair is found to result in increase of the skyrmion radius. Our theory predicts that a spontaneous generation of a vortex-anti-vortex pair is possible under some conditions in the presence of a Neel-type skyrmion.

Néel Skyrmionic States and Chiral Stripes in the Magnetic Bilayer with Transverse Easy Axis

Chiral spin structures, such as skyrmions, are topologically nontrivial magnetization configurations, which have potential applications in magnetic recording media. In particular, an antiferromagnetically coupled system that hosts skyrmions is of great interest because of high-speed skyrmion motion and reduced skyrmion Hall effect. Here, we consider TbCo/GdFe-based amorphous ferrimagnetic system showing chiral stripe domains and Neel-type skyrmions. It is observed that skyrmionic configurations are stabilized with the help of dipolar interactions that exist in the system. Optimized thicknesses of TbCo (30 nm) and GdFe (6 nm) show isolated skyrmions in both the layers with average skyrmion diameter of 40 ± 5 nm. We have also investigated a phase diagram in a wide range of layer thickness, which represents the presence of the mixture of either vortex, chiral stripes, or/and Neel-type skyrmions. To understand the underlying phenomena which help chiral ferrimagnetism in this kind of amorphous system, we perform layer-resolved micromagnetic modeling. We found variety of chiral textures in a wide thickness range of ferrimagnetic bilayer systems, which may be useful for fundamental understanding of formation of skyrmion and their application in spintronic devices.

Tuning the Size of Skyrmion by Strain at the Co/Pt <sub>3</sub> Interfaces

Based on density functional theory calculations, we elucidated the tunability of the atomic and magnetic structures of Co/Pt3 interface and thus the skyrmion sizes using strain. The dispersion relations of spin spiral at opposite direction E(q) and E(-q) were evaluated based on generalized Bloch equations. Effective exchange coupling (EC) and Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction (DMI) parameters between different neighbors Ji and di at different lattice constants were derived by fitting the resulting magnon dispersion E(q) to EC model with DMI and E(q)-E(-q) formula, respectively. We observed that DMI increases and EC decreases significantly with strain. Hence, the size of Neel-type skyrmions determined by the ratio of EC/DMI can be controlled by applying strain, leading to an effective approach to tailor the formation of skyrmion lattices by inducing slight structural modifications on the magnetic thin films.

Magnetic Skyrmions in a Hall Balance with Interfacial Canted Magnetizations.

Magnetic skyrmions are attracting interest as efficient information-storage devices with low energy consumption, and have been experimentally and theoretically investigated in multilayers including ferromagnets, ferrimagnets, and antiferromagnets. The 3D spin texture of skyrmions demonstrated in ferromagnetic multilayers provides a powerful pathway for understanding the stabilization of ferromagnetic skyrmions. However, the manipulation mechanism of skyrmions in antiferromagnets is still lacking. A Hall balance with a ferromagnet/insulating spacer/ferromagnet structure is considered to be a promising candidate to study skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets. Here, high-density Néel-type skyrmions are experimentally observed at zero field and room temperature by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy in a Hall balance (core structure [Co/Pt]n /NiO/[Co/Pt]n ) with interfacial canted magnetizations because of interlayer ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic coupling between top and bottom [Co/Pt]n multilayers, where the Co layers in [Co/Pt]n are always ferromagnetically coupled. Micromagnetic simulations show that the generation and density of skyrmions are strongly dependent on interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) and easy-axis orientation. Direct experimental evidence of skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets is provided, suggesting that the proposed approach offers a promising alternative mechanism for room-temperature spintronics.

Observation of unconventional anomalous Hall effect in epitaxial CrTe thin films

We have studied the magnetic and electrical transport properties of epitaxial NiAs-type CrTe thin films grown on SrTiO3(111) substrates. Unlike rectangle hysteresis loops obtained from magnetic measurements, we have identified intriguing extra bump/dip features from anomalous Hall experiments on the films with thicknesses less than 12 nm. This observed Hall anomaly is phenomenologically consistent with the occurrence of a topological Hall effect(THE) in chiral magnets with a skyrmion phase. Furthermore, the THE contribution can be tuned by the film thickness, showing the key contribution of asymmetric interfaces in stabilizing Neel-type skyrmions. Our work demonstrates that a CrTe thin film on SrTiO3(111) substrates is a good material candidate for studying real-space topological transport.