No Arabic abstract
An experimentally feasible energy-storage concept is formulated based on vorticity (hydro)dynamics within an easy-plane insulating magnet. The free energy, associated with the magnetic winding texture, is built up in a circular easy-plane magnetic structure by injecting a vorticity flow in the radial direction. The latter is accomplished by electrically induced spin-transfer torque, which pumps energy into the magnetic system in proportion to the vortex flux. The resultant magnetic metastable state with a finite winding number can be maintained for a long time because the process of its relaxation via phase slips is exponentially suppressed when the temperature is well below the Curie temperature. We propose to characterize the vorticity-current interaction underlying the energy-loading mechanism through its contribution to the effective electric inductance in the rf response. Our proposal may open an avenue for naturally powering spintronic circuits and nontraditional magnet-based neuromorphic networks.
In the quest to image the three-dimensional magnetization structure we show that the technique of magnetic small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is highly sensitive to the details of the internal spin structure of nanoparticles. By combining SANS with numerical micromagnetic computations we study the transition from single-domain to multi-domain behavior in nanoparticles and its implications for the ensuing magnetic SANS cross section. Above the critical single-domain size we find that the cross section and the related correlation function cannot be described anymore with the uniform particle model, resulting e.g. in deviations from the well-known Guinier law. We identify a clear signature for the occurrence of a vortex-like spin structure at remanence. The micromagnetic approach to magnetic SANS bears great potential for future investigations, since it provides fundamental insights into the mesoscale magnetization profile of nanoparticles.
The scientific and technological exploration of artificially designed three-dimensional magnetic nanostructures opens the path to exciting novel physical phenomena, originating from the increased complexity in spin textures, topology, and frustration in three dimensions. Theory predicts that the equilibrium magnetic ground state of two-dimensional systems which reflects the competition between symmetric (Heisenberg) and antisymmetric (Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI)) exchange interaction is significantly modified on curved surfaces when the radius of local curvature becomes comparable to fundamental magnetic length scales. Here, we present an experimental study of the spin texture in an 8 nm thin magnetic multilayer with growth-induced in-plane anisotropy and DMI deposited onto the curved surface of a 1.8 {mu}m long non-magnetic carbon nanowire with a 67 nm radius. Using magnetic soft x-ray tomography the three-dimensional spin configuration in this nanotube was retrieved with about 30nm spatial resolution. The transition between two vortex configurations on the two ends of the nanotube with opposite circulation occurs through a domain wall that is aligned at an inclined angle relative to the wire axis. Three-dimensional micromagnetic simulations support the experimental observations and represent a visualization of the curvature-mediated DMI. They also allow a quantitative estimate of the DMI value for the magnetic multilayered nanotube.
Topologically distinct magnetic structures like skyrmions, domain walls, and the uniformly magnetized state have multiple applications in logic devices, sensors, and as bits of information. One of the most promising concepts for applying these bits is the racetrack architecture controlled by electric currents or magnetic driving fields. In state-of-the-art racetracks, these fields or currents are applied to the whole circuit. Here, we employ micromagnetic and atomistic simulations to establish a concept for racetrack memories free of global driving forces. Surprisingly, we realize that mixed sequences of topologically distinct objects can be created and propagated over far distances exclusively by local rotation of magnetization at the sample boundaries. We reveal the dependence between the chirality of the rotation and the direction of propagation and define the phase space where the proposed procedure can be realized. The advantages of this approach are the exclusion of high current and field densities as well as its compatibility with an energy-efficient three-dimensional design.
We present an in-depth classification of the topological phases and Majorana fermion (MF) excitations that arise from the bulk interplay between unconventional multiband spin-singlet superconductivity and various magnetic textures. We focus on magnetic texture crystals with a periodically-repeating primitive cell of the helix, whirl, and skyrmion types. Our analysis is relevant for a wide range of layered materials and hybrid devices, and accounts for both strong and weak, as well as crystalline topological phases. We identify a multitude of accessible topological phases which harbor flat, uni- or bi-directional, (quasi-)helical, or chiral MF edge modes. This rich variety of MFs originates from the interplay between topological phases with gapped and nodal bulk energy spectra, with the resulting types of spectra and MFs controlled by the size of the pairing and magnetic gaps.
We provide a general procedure to calculate the current-induced spin-transfer torque which acts on a general steep magnetic texture due to the exchange interaction with an applied spin-polarized current. As an example, we consider a one-dimensional ferromagnetic quantum wire and also include a Rashba spin-orbit interaction. The spin-transfer torque becomes generally spatially non-local. Likewise, the Rashba spin-orbit interaction induces a spatially nonlocal field-like nonequilibrium spin-transfer torque. We also find a spatially varying nonadiabaticity parameter and markedly different domain wall dynamics for very steep textures as compared to wide domain walls.