Skyrmion dynamics in chiral ferromagnets

We study the dynamics of skyrmions in Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya materials with easy-axis anisotropy. An important link between topology and dynamics is established through the construction of unambiguous conservation laws obtained earlier in connection with magnetic bubbles and vortices. In particular,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2015-08, Vol.92 (6), Article 064412
Main Authors: Komineas, Stavros, Papanicolaou, Nikos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anisotropy
Condensed matter
Constants
Dynamics
Ferromagnetism
Hypothetical particles
Particle theory
Topology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We study the dynamics of skyrmions in Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya materials with easy-axis anisotropy. An important link between topology and dynamics is established through the construction of unambiguous conservation laws obtained earlier in connection with magnetic bubbles and vortices. In particular, we study the motion of a topological skyrmion with skyrmion number Q = 1 and a nontopological skyrmionium with Q = 0 under the influence of an applied field gradient. The Q = 1 skyrmion undergoes Hall motion perpendicular to the direction of the field gradient with a drift velocity proportional to the gradient. In contrast, the nontopological Q = 0 skyrmionium is accelerated in the direction of the field gradient, thus exhibiting ordinary Newtonian motion. When the applied field is switched off the Q = 1 skyrmion is spontaneously pinned around a fixed guiding center, whereas the Q = 0 skyrmionium moves with constant velocity [upsilon]. We give a systematic calculation of a skyrmionium traveling with any constant velocity [upsilon] that is smaller than a critical velocity [upsilon] sub(c)
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.92.064412