Magnetic skyrmion interactions in the micromagnetic framework

Journal article

Magnetic skyrmions are localized swirls of magnetization with a nontrivial topological winding number. This winding increases their robustness to superparamagnetism and gives rise to a myriad of novel dynamical properties, making them attractive as next-generation information carriers. Recently the equation of motion for a skyrmion was derived using the approach pioneered by Thiele, allowing for macroscopic skyrmion systems to be modeled efficiently. This powerful technique suffers from the prerequisite that one must have a priori knowledge of the functional form of the interaction between a skyrmion and all other magnetic structures in its environment. Here we attempt to alleviate this problem by providing a simple analytic expression that can generate arbitrary repulsive interaction potentials from the micromagnetic Hamiltonian, using it to provide a correction to the interaction between a skyrmion and the boundary of its material. We also discuss a toy model of the radial profile of a skyrmion, which is accurate for a wide range of material parameters.

Authors: Brearton, R; van der Laan, G; Hesjedal, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
• Volume: 101
• Issue: 13
• Article number: 134422
• Publication date: 2020-04-20
• Acceptance date: 2020-03-30
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.134422
• EISSN: 1550-235X
• ISSN: 1098-0121
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR