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Deformation of the Moving Magnetic Skyrmion Lattice in MnSi under Electric Current Flow

Published

Author(s)

D. Okuyama, Markus Bleuel, J. S. White, Qiang Ye, Jeffery R Krzywon, G. Nagy, Z. Q. Im, I. Zivkovic, M. Bartkowiak, H. M. Ronnow, S. Hoshino, J. Iwasaki, N. Nagaosa, A. Kikkawa, Y. Taguchi, Y. Tokura, D. Higashi, J. D. Reim, Y. Nambu, T. J. Sato

Abstract

Topological defects are found ubiquitously in various kinds of matter, such as vortices in type-II superconductors, and magnetic skyrmions in chiral ferromagnets. While knowledge on the static behavior of magnetic skyrmions is accumulating steadily, their dynamics under florced flow is still a widely open issue. Here, we report the deformation of the moving magnetic skyrmion lattice in MnSi under electric current flow observed using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). A spatially inhomogeneous rotation of the skyrmion lattice, with an inverse rotation sense for opposite sample edges, is observed for current densities greater than a threshold value j6dt61 MA/m2 (106 A/m^u2). Our result show that skyrmion lattices under current flow experience significant friction near the sample edges due to pinning, this being a critical effect that must be considered for anticipated skyrimion-based applications at the nanoscale.
Citation
Communications Physics
Volume
2

Keywords

skyrmion, SANS, deformation

Citation

Okuyama, D. , Bleuel, M. , White, J. , Ye, Q. , Krzywon, J. , Nagy, G. , Im, Z. , Zivkovic, I. , Bartkowiak, M. , Ronnow, H. , Hoshino, S. , Iwasaki, J. , Nagaosa, N. , Kikkawa, A. , Taguchi, Y. , Tokura, Y. , Higashi, D. , Reim, J. , Nambu, Y. and Sato, T. (2019), Deformation of the Moving Magnetic Skyrmion Lattice in MnSi under Electric Current Flow, Communications Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=927422 (Accessed April 26, 2024)
Created July 10, 2019, Updated October 12, 2021