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Skyrmion-(non)crystal structure stabilized by dipolar interaction

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Abstract

We report a numerical study on the role of long-range dipolar interaction played on the creation and stabilization of skyrmion-(non)crystal structure in chiral ferromagnetic thin films without any anisotropies, based on a Monte-Carlo simulation method. With the increase of external magnetic field, the microscopic spin configuration is transformed from a spin-spiral stripe or labyrinth structure, depending on the strength of dipolar interaction, into a skyrmion-(non)crystal structure, and then into a skyrmion-gas structure, and finally into a ferromagnetic state. Interestingly, with the increase of dipolar interaction, the skyrmion-crystal structure evolves from a triangular arrangement into a square arrangement with the change of skyrmion shape from circle to square. For larger dipolar interactions, the skyrmion-crystal structure loses the regular arrangements and the skyrmions, remaining topological, exhibit different shapes and sizes and squeeze with each other, whose distributions are analogous to a non-crystal structure. Therefore, different skyrmion-(non)crystal structures are stabilized in different ranges of dipolar interactions, which further promotes the applications of skyrmions as non-volatile information carriers.

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摘要

我们报道了一项基于蒙特卡洛模拟方法的在无任何各向异性的手性铁磁薄膜体系中, 长程偶极相互作用在斯格明子(非)晶体结构的产生和稳定方面所起的作用的数值研究工作。结果表明, 随着外磁场的增强, 体系微观自旋构型从自旋螺旋条纹结构或迷宫结构, 取决于偶极作用大小, 演变为斯格明子 (非) 晶体结构, 然后转变为斯格明子气体结构, 最终, 演化为铁磁结构。有趣的是, 随着偶极作用的增大, 斯格明子晶体结构会由三角格点的排列方式转变为正方格点, 同时斯格明子的形状也由圆形转变为正方形。在大的偶极作用下, 斯格明子晶体结构失去格点的规则排列方式, 且仍然是拓扑性的斯格明子表现出不同的形状和尺寸, 并彼此挤压在一起, 其结构分布类似于非晶体结构。因此, 我们得出结论, 不同的斯格明子 (非) 晶体结构稳定在不同的偶极作用范围内, 此项工作将进一步推动斯格明子作为非易失性信息载体的应用。

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11774045) and the Joint Research Fund Liaoning-Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science (No. 20180510008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Ming-Xiu Sui & Yong Hu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Yong Hu

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  1. Ming-Xiu Sui
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Correspondence to Yong Hu.

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Sui, MX., Hu, Y. Skyrmion-(non)crystal structure stabilized by dipolar interaction. Rare Met. 41, 3160–3169 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-022-02040-y

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