Cortes, David, Wang, Weiwei, Beg, Marijan, Pepper, Ryan, Bisotti, Marc-Antonio, Carey, Rebecca, Vousden, Mark, Kluyver, Thomas, Hovorka, Ondrej and Fangohr, Hans (2017) Thermal stability and topological protection of skyrmions in nanotracks. Scientific Reports, 7, 1-13, [4060]. (doi:10.1038/s41598-017-03391-8).
Abstract
Magnetic skyrmions are hailed as a potential technology for data storage and other data processing devices. However, their stability against thermal fluctuations is an open question that must be answered before skyrmion-based devices can be designed. In this work, we study paths in the energy landscape via which the transition between the skyrmion and the uniform state can occur in interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya finite-sized systems. We find three mechanisms the system can take in the process of skyrmion nucleation or destruction and identify that the transition facilitated by the boundary has a significantly lower energy barrier than the other energy paths. This clearly demonstrates the lack of the skyrmion topological protection in finite-sized magnetic systems. Overall, the energy barriers of the system under investigation are too small for storage applications at room temperature, but research into device materials, geometry and design may be able to address this.
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- Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg)
- Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Engineering > Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg) > Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng (pre 2018 reorg) > Computational Engineering & Design Group (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Engineering > Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering > Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng (pre 2018 reorg) > Computational Engineering & Design Group (pre 2018 reorg)
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering > Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng (pre 2018 reorg) > Computational Engineering & Design Group (pre 2018 reorg) - Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Engineering > Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering > Computational Engineering and Design Group
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering > Computational Engineering and Design Group - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering (pre 2018 reorg) > Electronics & Computer Science (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Electronics and Computer Science > Electronics & Computer Science (pre 2018 reorg)
School of Electronics and Computer Science > Electronics & Computer Science (pre 2018 reorg) - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg) > Education Hub (pre 2018 reorg)
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