Self-focusing skyrmion racetracks in ferrimagnets

Se Kwon Kim, Kyung Jin Lee, Yaroslav Tserkovnyak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We theoretically study the dynamics of ferrimagnetic skyrmions in inhomogeneous metallic films close to the angular momentum compensation point. In particular, it is shown that the line of the vanishing angular momentum can be utilized as a self-focusing racetrack for skyrmions. To that end, we begin by deriving the equations of motion for the dynamics of collinear ferrimagnets in the presence of a charge current. The obtained equations of motion reduce to those of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets at two special limits. In the collective coordinate approach, a skyrmion behaves as a massive charged particle moving in a viscous medium subjected to a magnetic field. Analogous to the snake orbits of electrons in a nonuniform magnetic field, we show that a ferrimagnet with nonuniform angular momentum density can exhibit the snake trajectories of skyrmions, which can be utilized as racetracks for skyrmions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number140404
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume95
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Apr 14

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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